Switched Lives
by PixieGirl13
Summary: By using blackmail, Slade gets Red X to switch places with Robin.So while Red X lives a superhero life while still juggling his Red X identity, Robin is being shipped off to assassin school.But Slade has more things up his sleeves.
1. Chapter 1 Another One Bites the Dust

A/N: This is really the first fan fic that I spent time working out the plot and planning way ahead, so this one will not flop. It sounded like such a good plot, but it had to have time to make it perfect. I think I'm finally ready for it! I can't wait to start! Just to tell you, this is before the Raven episodes. This has the apprentice theme with Robin and Slade. The fic is more about Red X, though. I do show my version of his true identity in this fic. I tried that once, but the fic flopped after the third or forth chapter. I go through a lot of bad fan fictions till I get to a really good one with an awesome plot and characters. I'm really taking off one fan fic to work full time on this one, so you better like this one! But please R&R! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Teen Titans. I only own the plot and a few OCs. Red X is not mine either. My version of his true identity is, though. Disclaimers are so boring and stupid! You guys are smart enough to know I don't own them!

Switched Lives

By: Pixiegirl13

Chapter 1 Another One Bites the Dust

_"Steve walks warily down the street,_

_With the brim pulled way down low_

_Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,_

_Machine guns ready to go_

_Are you ready, are you ready for this_

_Are you hanging on the edge of your seat_

_Out of the doorway the bullets rip_

_To the sound of the beat…"_

Boy, did he love this song. It was playing at such a perfect time in the night. It seemed as if the three police officers enjoyed the catchy toon as much as he did because they turned up the volume. At around two in the morning the jewelry safe to the expensive watch making company in the heart of Jump City was not that heavily guarded. It was such a right time for the city's greatest thief to attack. Not even the famous Teen Titans would be there to see him leave. They would only get to see him wave good bye through a video tape recording.

Getting to the spot he was now was not an easy task, though. Only the best of the best could make it through a football stadium sized metal room filled with random moving lasers that would sound the alarm with only one tiny touch. That had been the fun part. To skip the laborious task of avoiding the many video cameras, he had to climb through the dusty air vent on his hands and knees in complete darkness. Now he was at a desk with three police guys behind it to guard a giant safe with thousands of rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. It was the loot of a thousand worlds to someone like Red X.

Red X expressed a smile under his mask while waiting for his Q in the music playing. Who said stealing could not be fun? His small and lithe figure flipped over the desk and landed gracefully on the other side where the policemen could see him clearly. They all paused with wide eyes at seeing him. He had been hiding this whole time.

_Dun, dun, dun._ _"Another one bites the dust,"_ the singer yelled into the tense air just as Red X struck. He did it right in time with the music. _Dun, dun, dun._ _"Another one bites the dust."_ Red X did a hard roundhouse kick to one guy's head and knocked him out cold. When he hit the floor the right lyrics were sung. _"And another one gone, and another one gone. Another one bites the dust."_

X smiled again as he saw one guy reach for the radio on the desk. Just in time to the music again he said, _"Hey, I'm gonna get you too!"_ He put his palm out at the man and sticky red goo shaped as an X flung out and trapped him there. _"Another bites the dust."_

Red X laughed out loud while looking around at his wonderful work. Two guys were knocked out cold while one guy was caught up into the goo and not moving because he knew it would not do anything to help him. Red X had won.

"I hope you guys have that all on tape," Red X said to them. He then kneeled down next to the safe while getting serious for a few seconds. He had on a new belt. He had not yet stolen the one Robin had taken away from him back. He did not have to have a gadget to make himself invisible. He was so silent and quick that it did not matter.

From this new belt, Red X took out a small cup. Sure, it was old fashioned, but it did the trick. No one had updated the old safe and most people thought that no one would get past all those lasers. Cracking into the thing was the easiest part of the whole night. In only a few silent seconds he heard the last click and the door opened.

"Sit tight, guys," Red X said to the three policemen. "You should be glad. You just made one guy very happy." One guy glared at him while struggling in the red goo covering his whole body except for his eyes, nose, and one leg. "Be glad I did not kill you and ate your liver," X said with a wicked smile forming under the mask. He saw the man's eyes widen in fright, and he laughed at how some people could be so gullible. (A/N: Did you know gullible is not in the dictionary? HA! I might have gotten a few people with that one.)

"Time for the best part," Red X said while walking into the safe. He took out a red silk bag from his belt as he stared at the many boxes of jewels all around the room. He was so close to picking one of the beautiful things up, but the alarm suddenly went off.

"Crap," Red X muttered to himself while looking around to see where he made the mistake. But it was not him who turned the alarm on. It was someone else. That person was standing next to the door of the safe with his hands behind his back as that one eye stared at the thief with evil amusement shining in it.

"Damn," Red X now said as he spotted Slade there.

"So that is the first word I hear from your mouth?" Slade asked him calmly. He gave a small chuckle that made a shiver go down Red X's spine from the cold tone of it. "Not what I was expecting from you."

"So what were you expecting?" Red X asked him to stall time for himself. It was clear to him that Slade had followed him to the safe just to tie the thief up and take everything for himself before the Titans came. Red X would go to jail instead of Slade. That man could be so cold!

"Something more along the lines of cockiness," Slade said with an easy-going shrug. He always had a calm and relaxed about him. He never really seemed to express much emotion but anger at some rare times. It spooked Red X out. "But that is not why I'm hear."

"I'm not going down without a fight, old man," Red X said while getting into a fighting stance. "When the Titans get here they will see two of their enemies and not just one like you plan."

"You're smart, X," Slade said while walking towards him with much confidence in each step. "But that is not why I planned to meet you here." Red X stood his ground to show that he was not afraid of the man. He stiffened up as Slade came up to him so they were only a foot away from each other. This had to be one of Slade's tricks, or he really wanted to talk.

"What do you want?" Red X spat the words out. He did not like Slade from what he knew about the villain. They guy was clearly insane. It had been him that drove Robin into making the suit that Red X now wore. Red X had reasons to steal. Slade did not. "I'm not interested unless it pays more than what I can fit into this bag." He held the bag up to show the villain.

"Oh, trust me, X," Slade said smoothly while leaning down so they were face to face. Red X swallowed what little fear he had. "It will be worth ten times more than what can fit into this room. It is just a job I want you to do. It is only open for one person. You." He let the words sink into the young man's head before saying, "If you want to take me up on this offer then come to the old warehouse near the docks at five o clock sharp this morning. I'll give you some good advice. Come."

With that said, Slade took out three black balls from his belt and threw them down between him and Red X. A giant dust cloud sprung into the air and quickly swarmed around the confused thief. He coughed a few times and waited till the dust was gone. But when it cleared he was faced with a bigger problem. The Teen Titans.

"Pretty bad attempt to run away, Red X," Robin said from where he stood at the door to the safe. His four other members either stood or hovered next to him with different expressions on their faces.

"Dude," Beast Boy said while putting up a goofy smile. "You're supposed to run when you throw dust all around."

Red X was furious. He wanted to scream. Slade did this to him! His whole night was ruined because of that evil man! He would not get any money and he had to fight the Teen Titans. Then he realized that Slade knew this was going to happen. If Red X had no money because of the Teen Titans he would go to Slade for it. But the young man would never go begging for it from such a ruthless person. He believed you had to earn it. Maybe stealing was the wrong way to go, but he earned it by plotting break-ins every night and practicing each day to get better at different skills. He was also juggling different identities all the time, and he had a loved one to take care of.

"Ready to get your butts kicked, kiddies?" Red X asked them while taking up a fighting stance. He took out two X's and held one in each hand. He was ready to toss them at any time. He had studied the Titans before becoming the thief he was today. He knew how they worked. He could get free, but it would not be easy.

"It will be us doing the butt kicking, X," Robin said while taking out his Bo Staff and twirling it around a few times to get the weapon to its full length. "You're nights of stealing are over." With that said, the fight started by the two simple words. "Titans! Go!"

With a small flick of his wrist, the first X was flying into the air at bullet speed. He quickly did the same to the other one in his hand. Raven stopped the first one from making any damage with her chant and dark powers. It fell to the floor of the safe as if dead. The other one came at Starfire. She gave a small scream of surprise while dodging to the side only to be smashed against the wall with red goo.

"One down," Red X said with a smile under his mask. "Four more to go." He dodged to the side quickly as a blast from Cyborg's sonic cannon flew by him. He did a few back flips to get away from more attacks from the half robot guy.

With a loud battle cry, Robin came down at Red X with his staff. Red X reacted quickly by putting up his arm while making the X's on his gloves into sharp spikes. He cut Robin off and snapped his wrist to the side in an attempt to disarm Robin of the weapon, but the boy was just too fast and pulled the staff away before anything could happen. He came back with a hard hitting smash to Red X's side and sent him flying into boxes labeled _emeralds_.

X cleared his vision by shaking his spinning head. Boy, did that hurt! His eyes went wide for a few seconds as he saw a green rhino coming at him at break neck speed. He jumped into the air with much grace and did a flip at the end to land on top of the many boxes and still being able to see the rest of the Titans. He braced himself just in time as Beast Boy slammed into the boxes headfirst. X winced under his mask as the green teen stumbled off to the side of the battle while holding onto his dizzy head and moaning in pain.

Cyborg and Robin were running toward the boxes Red X was standing on. X thought quickly and shot three big X's at them. The weapons quickly tangled the two teens up and sent them falling to the hard floor. They tried their hardest to get out. Robin could not reach his bird-a-rangs while Cyborg could not use his sonic cannon. They were down for the rest of the fight.

Whack! Red X fell off the tower of boxes with a small yell as a black levitating box slammed into the side of his head. He gained his balance while falling and landed on his two feet. He slid backwards from the hard impact and stopped when his back bumped into the wall.

X glared at Raven. She only smiled wickedly at him and made other boxes close to her fly at him. He took to the air and jumped to different boxes coming at him while heading towards Raven who was levitating in the air. He came at her with a flying kick. She quickly blocked him with a black force field.

Red X grabbed Raven's long cloak as he fell, which made her lose concentration and fall with him. Once they were on the ground, X stuck another one of his X's on her mouth and headed for the door. She screamed into it and tried hard to get it off. At the door he was faced with Starfire and Beast who had jumped back into the fight.

"I don't have time for this, kids," Red X muttered to them. He faked to the left and Beast Boy, as a tiger, lunged that way along with help of Starfire's many green starbolts. He duck rolled past them and started to shoot the rest of his red goo at the safe's door. It was quickly covered with the thick, pasty stuff.

The thief took off with little hesitation. Sooner than later the Titans would get out of there and search all night for his hind. But he had a safe place to stay. He would go back to his other life and pretend like this had never happened. He would slip into another world. He always had different lives to live.

-Slade-

Five o one. Foolish boy! He was late. Slade could handle the boy being late, but he would get punished for it. But he had a feeling that the boy was not coming. When it was ten minutes past the set time Slade was ticked off. Red X was not coming. He did not want to come. Stubborn fool!

With a frustrated yell, Slade pound the wall with a hard fist. The resting birds in the rafters all awoke and flew off from the disturbance. One abandoned warehouse was not a big enough home for a crazy guy like Slade and dozens of birds. It used to be quiet till this dude came to the city once again.

"He does not fear my power!" Slade muttered to himself as he looked over the information about Red X the hundredth time that early morning. He knew the boy from top to bottom. He knew him more than anyone else. How could he not see this coming?

Simple mistake. He must have under estimated the boy. He was as stubborn as Robin. (A good thing for his plan.) He never noticed that about him. Now he knew. He would just have to go to plan B, which he secretly wanted to do all along. But putting it as plan B would make it more fun. He would have to get Red X to come by force. Of course he could beat the tar out of the young man and demand for him to work for him, but there was a better way. This way he could see the boy suffer deeply. This way he could be very sure Red X would not betray him.

He would break this boy down just like all the others. Just like he was going to do with Robin. You just had to find their weak spot. And this guy's weak spot was so obvious it was almost funny. Slade spotted a cell phone on his desk and smiled under his mask while dialing up a number.

"You don't fear me at the moment, Red X," he said to himself as he heard the phone ring. "But you soon will."

A/N: So how was it? Man, I have that song stuck in my head! I wanted to start out with something different. And the song does not belong to me…duh. It was by Queen. But I thought that it would be fun to start out with one of my favorite songs. But how did you like it? It gets good fast. Next chapter should be up soon, but I'm trying to finish up my Island Hunting fic, so sorry if next chapter takes more time than I thought it would.

Oh, and another thing before I forget! I don't like swearing in my fics! It is one of the Ten Commandments that I try to obey. Do not take the Lord's name in vain. So I don't swear. But in my writing I do it to make it realistic or to build character. I just wanted to get that out of my system because I have friends and family reading my stuff and I wanted to explain it all to them. My dad too because he is strict on that kind of thing. So Daddy! If your reading this I have a reason for some swear words in my writing! I still call him daddy. I never call him Dad. I'm such a daddy's girl and I'm proud of it!

Please give a review! Thanks! And tell me how you like it. If I need to work on a few things then tell me. I'll take advice. But be nice when telling me. Don't sound mean or I will not like you. Nah! I'm kidding. Just review!


	2. Chapter 2 Blackmail

A/N: Okay, people reading this! I will ask you just one simple thing. Review! I have more than 70 hits for the first chapter but only two people took the time out of their day to say if they liked it or not or what they wanted me to do. Please people, who are reading, review! I want to know how you feel about my work and I'll take any kind of advice from you. Even if you just say one word I'll be fine with that. But I like to know how readers like my stuff. But thanks for reading anyway. If you don't review it is still fine. I would just like to get better as a writer, and I can't do that when no body tells me what I'm doing wrong or right. So please R&R. It would help me so much! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I like Pepsi. I have a reason for saying that randomly. Just like I don't own Pepsi, I don't own the Teen Titans. I'm sure I got at least one of you readers to laugh at me.

Chapter 2 Blackmail

Red X silently ran towards the small apartment squished between two other buildings. As he ran in the dark early morning, the boy started to take off his costume. The mask came off first to show a teen's face instead of the adult he tried so hard to portray. He had a pointed chin just like Robin's. His hair was a mix of the real color black and the died color blonde. He always had his hair in his face and blocking his breathtaking blue eyes.

The teen ran up to the door and fumbled with a key before quietly going into the small and rundown building. He took the stairs to his small dwelling that only had two bedrooms with one bathroom and a small kitchen. It was enough for him to get by, though.

Red X opened the door to his small home silently and came in with a sigh of relief. He had made it home! He leaned against the door while closing his eyes to relax. He rubbed his forehead as a headache started to form. Sure, he made it home, but without anything in his hands. It had been a total flop. He kicked himself for not picking up anything before leaving.

Red X picked himself up and made his way to his room. He was all worn out from jumping to different rooftops to lose the Titans for two whole hours. He had cuts and bruises from various attacks. A huge bump was on the side of his head from Raven's attack in the safe. It would hurt worse in the morning.

The teen grumbled a curse under his breath while peeking into the other room where his little sister, Valentine, slept. Boy, did he love her. When Red X was only eleven years old his parents died in a car accident and him and Val were sent to an orphanage. Valentine was only three at the time. Then when Red X was fifteen he and Val got adopted. But the parents were always drunk, so X took it upon himself to be Valentine's new mom and dad and got himself a job and house where they now lived. Red X was still low on money at the moment, though. And that had started the brilliant idea of being Red X.

"Sleep well, Val," the real Red X whispered into the room. His real name was Jake White. Another name he was known for was Red X. He had two lives to live every day. Sometimes it was just too much, and he would lock himself in his room for hours thinking it over. He just wished things would go back to where they used to be. But they could never be that way again.

Jake washed up in the bathroom and swallowed a few pain-killing pills for his poor head. It was around 4:30 in the morning when he finally collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep from so much exhaustion. He could only be an insomniac for so long.

He woke up to the phone in the kitchen ringing loudly. With a sleepy and annoyed moan, Jake glanced over his clock and saw that it was 5:15. He still managed to gather some strength and stumble out of his room to the counter where the phone was. He yawned before picking it up and asking, "Hello?"

"You did not come," that calm yet dreadful voice said from the other end. Suddenly Jake was awake. He stiffened in fear. It was Slade.

"So," Jake said in his Red X voice. He pretended that he did not care at all. "I did not want the job. Go get someone else, Slade."

"I only want you," Slade said. "And I don't take no for an answer."

"First time for everything, Slade," Jake said into the phone with anger burning in his voice. The more he talked to this man the more he got mad. No wonder Robin hated Slade so much! "I'm strong. I can take care of myself. I don't need your help, Slade. And I'm not scared of you! You can't scare me into working for you, so get another person, or dump the idea in your crazy head. I'm not and never will be interested!"

Jake heard a laugh from the other end of the phone, and it sent a shiver down his spine. The guy could be so freaky sometimes. And when the enemy laughs it always meant that they were one step ahead of you. This was not good. What did Slade have up his sleeves? What scared Jake so much was that he had no idea for once in his life. He had always been quick thinking and knew how to get out of the toughest situations. Right now he was left in the dust.

"I'll make you come to me sooner or later, my dear boy," Slade said. "You will come to fear me and respect me. I'm not someone to be messed with. Take the job before you hurt yourself."

"No!" Jake yelled into the phone. Slade was just trying to scare him with threats. "You're just talk, Slade. Stop bugging me and get a life!"

"I'm not just talk, Jake," Slade said calmly. He seemed almost relaxed at the moment. "You will see my power in due time." He smiled when he heard nothing on the other end. He had called Red X by his real name, and the kid had heard it. He then heard Jake hang up. Everything was working out perfectly.

"How does he know my name?" Jake asked himself while staring at the phone as his hand shook slightly. "Calm down," he told himself while closing his eyes. "He is just trying to scare you. He can't do anything to you."

"Who can't do anything to you?" someone said from behind Jake.

With a small gasp, the teen turned around to be faced with his little nine-year-old sister. She had her mother's looks while Jake had some of his dad's. She had long brown hair and lively green eyes. But you can't let the cute figure fool you. She was a little pistol and hard to handle.

"No body," Jake said quickly. He ran a hand through his hair and stared down at his sister who just watched him carefully with one eyebrow raised as if she was sizing him up.

"You were Red X again this morning," Valentine stated while crossing her arms in front of her and giving her older brother a stern look. Both knew stealing was not a good thing, and Jake tried to hide it from her most of the time.

"No," Jake lied to her. "What gave you that idea?"

"One, you're all sweaty," Val said while counting on her fingers. "Two, you look like you just battled the Teen Titans. And three, you're still wearing the boots." Jake's eyes went wide with surprise as he looked down to see that he had not taken off the things. Opps.

"Okay, Sherlock Holmes," Jake said while kneeling down to her eye level. "You got me. But remember that I only do that when I'm desperate. I have not paid all my debts yet, and we really need the money right now. Paying for your school is not a walk in the park."

"I want to go with you next time, Jakey!" Val said while using his nickname. "Red X is so awesome!"

Jake scowled at her in silence for a few seconds as he pondered the ridiculous idea. "Too dangerous, Val," he said finally. "Maybe I can teach you some moves so you can tag along when you're older. Don't want to be mean to kids your age, but this is hard stuff. And I can't have you out there with me just yet."

"Kay," Valentine said with a sweet and sticky smile. "I understand. 'Night!"

"Not so fast, kid," Jake said while grabbing her shoulder before she could leave. "Why the nice act?" He gave her a sly smile as she groaned in defeat. Kids could be so predictable. "You're never this happy and gay all the time."

"Jake!" Val said with a moan. "Don't use that word ever again like that. You know I hate it when you use it like in the old days."

Jake laughed at her and said, "That is why I do it. It is too much fun. So what's the problem?"

"You," she said simply.

"The other problem," Jake said without even skipping a beat in their usual bickering that was like their own love language. "I hate you," meant, "I love you". "You suck and I hope you go to hell" meant something along the lines of "I love you till the day you die and beyond that." To onlookers it could be complicated, but to them it was an everyday thing.

"You have to talk to my teachers," Valentine said with another sigh. "I'm in trouble again."

"You suck in so many ways it is not even funny," Jake muttered to her. She then smiled at him sweetly and tried to give him an innocent look. "You know I will have act like your parent that day. I'll get over it, but you're in deep doo-doo, kid."

"I'll buy you pizza," she said to him with an over exaggerated smile.

"Nice try," Jake said to her with a wink. "But I'm trying to watch my figure." He did a funny girl model pose to make her laugh. She gave a giggle and punched him in the stomach. She did not know her own strength and ended up knocking the air out of him. Jake bent over gasping for breath as his sister laughed at him.

"Since when did you have a figure?" she asked him with a wicked smile coming to her cute face.

"Oh, you just earned yourself some brownie points as little sister," Jake said sarcastically to her. "Get over here, you monster!"

"Oh, crap!" she yelled while running away from him. She tripped on the surface of the slick kitchen floor because of her socks, and Jake ran past her and tried to stop himself before ramming into the wall. Valentine let out a loud scream while picking herself up and running into her room. She slammed the door closed, but Jake cut it off by putting his foot in the doorway.

"OW!" he yelled as she slammed the door a few times on his toe. "Enough!" he shouted while jumping into the room with a smile on his face. "You're going down, kid!"

"Ha-ya!" she yelled while trying to hit him with a roundhouse kick he had taught her. He caught her small foot and flung her into the air. She screamed with surprise and fell into his strong arms. Her weight made him stagger back a little. She laughed at seeing him wince in the pain.

"Oh, you think that is funny?" he asked her while gaining balance. She giggled while struggling to get out of his arms. "How about this?" he asked her while dropping her suddenly on her old bed then tickling her all over. She screamed and giggled because it was too much. "Surrender!" he said above her screams.

"I give up!" she yelled through giggles. He finally stopped and sat down next to her with a satisfied smile on his face. "You're evil," she said to him while shaking her head and glaring at him with pretend hate.

"It is my job," he told her while laying on his back at the end of her bed with a smug smile crossing onto his lips. He sure did love these moments with Valentine. They were so close.

"But I like you that way," she whispered to him while curling up in a ball next to him. She rested her head on his chest and heard his heart beating. He let her trace her tiny finger over his scars and bruises on his chest as he closed his eyes. He was worried but tried not to show it. He wondered what Slade was going to do.

* * *

It was the end of the day. So far nothing bad had happened. Slade was all talk. Jake had nothing to worry about. He could go on with his normal life. Once he was done stealing he would be able to buy another home and live peacefully with his sister. He loved her so much and more than anything.

"Sorry, Dave, but I have things to do tonight," Jake said into his cell phone while walking closer to the elementary school where his sister was. He was talking to a school friend and was telling him that he was busy that night. Really it was Red X who was busy, but it was pretty much the same thing.

"Okay, man," he said with a smile. "I'll see you on Monday." He pressed a button on the device and closed it. He put it into his back pocket for quick reach and ran his fingers through his hair once again out of some nervousness. He had to walk Valentine home today because she liked to beat up some of the kids, and he had to stop that. She was a tough girl and no one tried to mess with her. She would grow up to be a kick ass rocker chick or something along those lines when she got to be Jake's age. Jake shook his head in amusement of the thought.

Jake walked around the school to get to the busy front where the cars were parked or picking up kids at the end of a long Friday. He spotted Valentine with her back to him. She was walking down the sidewalk and not knowing that Jake was there early. He smiled and was about to shout out her name to get her attention, but something stopped him.

He was stopped dead in his tracks. He froze in pure fear as he spotted one of Slade's robots in the driver's seat of a car that Valentine was walking next to. He finally kicked back into gear and yelled frantically to her, "Valentine!"

"What, freak?" she yelled back with a smile while turning around to face him. She frowned while seeing panic in his eyes as he ran towards her. What was wrong?

Then the car door opened next to her and two hands grabbed the girl from behind. She had no time to scream. One second she was there and the next she was gone. The door closed, and the car took off. No one had enough time to see it except for Jake. The only good in his life was gone and stolen from him. His whole heart ached as he saw the car speed off with his sister in it.

"No!" he yelled as he tried to run after it in a desperate attempt to get her back. "No! You can't do this to me!" he shouted while slowing down and watching the car leave in defeat. What was going on? Everything had fallen apart so quickly. How could this happen?

Suddenly his phone rang. Jake opened it because he knew all too well who was on the other end. He heard the cold voice of Slade ask that simple and dreaded question. "Do you still want the job?"

"Give her back, you…you…no swear word could describe you!" he screamed into the phone. "Leave her out of this!"

Slade gave Jake a hellish laugh and said, "It is your fault, Jake. You did not obey me."

"It was not an order, stupid," Jake hissed back with venom dripping in his voice. He could kill the monster for doing this! "Even if you did order me to do the job I would have refused. Die and go to hell! No wait, that is your home, isn't it?"

"I want to be fair, Jake," Slade said with his voice placid and unshaken. "It is not an order. It is your choice still. Do you want the job now?"

"What are you going to do to her?" Jake said with his voice suddenly changing. He sounded hopeless and weak to Slade. This was what the man wanted from Red X. He was breaking him down by hitting relentlessly at his only soft spot. Slade was so pleased when he heard Jake say helplessly to him, "Please, Slade, don't hurt her."

"So now you're saying please?" Slade said with a heinous chuckle. "You must really do love her." Jake said nothing. He just shivered and tried to control himself. "I'll do nothing to her if you tell me right now your new answer, Jake. If it is still the same old no then she is in my hands and I can do whatever a want with her."

Jake paused. Slade was waiting for this from him and smiled under his mask again as he finally heard the words of defeat. It had been easy to tear this boy apart. He captured the only thing the teen had loved. It had been that simple. "I'll do anything you tell me to do, Slade. I'm yours to command. Just don't hurt her."

"I won't," Slade promised and Jake knew the man was smiling under his mask in triumph. "I knew you would see things my way. Suit up as Red X and come to the warehouse right away so we can discuss my plan. And hurry, or I might get bored and kill the girl just for fun. And I know you don't want that to happen."

-Val-

He said that nobody could do anything to him last night to her. It was a lie, but Valentine could forgive her big brother for it. Sometimes he was just too over protective. He always did not want her to worry about him, but she still did. Everyday she feared that the police would come into the house and arrest her older brother and take her back to live with her other parents. She would never see him again if that happened.

Now look where she was! Tied to a wooden chair and gagged in an old warehouse that could be anywhere in the city. She gave a pretty good fight and made it clear to Slade's robots that she did not like being kidnapped. Who didn't?

Valentine heard footsteps in the darkness around her. Finally a light came on overhead and she could see a table next to her filled with different gadgets and papers. A glass tank was close to the table. She had no idea what it was going to be used for. No one else was there that she could see. She could only hear the buzz of the light and the echoing footsteps of someone else. Finally she saw him. Slade.

"Don't worry, young one," he told her while walking up to his table. "You're brother will be here soon."

She started to swear incoherently into her gag while struggling to get free with all her strength. Slade paid no attention to her and went back to work at his table. She finally gave up and glared daggers at him. He was after her brother. What had Jake ever done to Slade? Jake must be worried sick about her right now. But what did Slade want with Jake? That was the main question going through her head.

Some birds flew away from the rafters, and this got Slade's attention. He turned around and put his hands behind his back as if waiting for someone. Valentine could see nothing in the dark and waited just like Slade was. Then a figure came into view. Red X was here. But at first he stayed in the darkness right next to the edge of the light from above as if he was only a shadow. He was unsure of himself.

"Glad you chose to come, Red X," Slade said to him in that usual calm and collected tone.

"Where is she?" Red X demanded while walking steadily up to the man with his hands curled up into tight fists. Valentine knew that he was boiling inside. She had never seen him this angry before. It kind of scared her. She hoped he did not start a fight with Slade. If that happened, the results would not be happy ones.

"Right here," Slade said while pointing over to Valentine.

"Let her go," Red X said while heading for his sister.

"Patience, X," Slade said calmly, and Jake stopped suddenly as he saw one of Slade's robots come up from behind Valentine with a knife in its hands. He took a step forward and stopped again as the knife was pressed up against his little sister's throat. He could see her eyes go wide with fright and it killed him inside. This had been his fault.

"What do you want?" Jake snapped at Slade. He had a bunch of pent up anger in his body. He was ready to strangle Slade. But he had to keep a cool and level head. He had to think things through. "And how do you know so much about me?"

"You were good at covering up your tracks," Slade said while walking up to Red X and standing behind him. "For some reason you knew where to find the suit. No one ever knew that the real Red X was Robin. You knew because you were there when the boy took off his mask. I caught you on videotape afterwards. I did some research on you and found out your whole past. The Red X idea was very clever and you somehow had the skills for it. I'm still not sure how you know how to fight so well, but it does not matter now. You now work for me. You're in my control."

"So you know about my past," Jake yelled at him. He spun around and said, "What I don't get is why you want me in the first place?"

"I'm going to use you to get to something I want," Slade said. "I want Robin of the Teen Titans. The only way to take him right now is to fool his little friends. To pull the wool over their eyes, I need to make them believe that they still have Robin. To make them believe that, I need someone to be and act like Robin. That someone is you."

"So you want me to be a clone boy?" Jake asked him in a disgusted tone. He thought on it for a few seconds then said, "It will never work."

"It _will_ work," Slade said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "You would look exactly like Robin if you cut the hair and put on his mask and uniform. You think like him. You even fight like him. So you two are not exactly like each other, so what? I can train you to be like him in most ways. At the right time, I capture Robin and you take his place like nothing happened. The others will never see it coming till it is too late. By that time I'll be out of the country, and you will be somewhere else."

"And what if I screw up?" Jake asked him. The plan could work. What Jake did not like was that he would be the one betraying the Titans.

Slade shrugged and said, "Then you're sister will pay for your mistake."

"You can't…" Jake started but stopped when he realized that Slade could and would kill her with no mercy. "Fine," he finally said with a sigh of hopelessness. It was not easy to admit that Slade had beaten him. But what could he do? Fighting would only kill Valentine. "Why do you want Robin so much?" he asked Slade while looking strangely at the man.

"I have my own reasons for the boy," Slade said. "I don't need to tell you all of them."

"Just one more thing, Slade," Jake said. "Let me talk to my sister now."

Slade thought it over then shrugged again. "I don't see any harm in it," he said. He waved to his robots and Valentine was free from her binds and gag. Slade watched as she kicked one of the robots before running over to her brother. He would have a hard time controlling this one. She had a lot of spunk in her.

"Don't do it, Jakey," was the first thing she said to him. "Slade is insane. The plan will never work!"

Red X took off his mask so he could look his little sister in the eyes. He could see that she was really scared under that hard shell. He kneeled down in front of her and held onto her small shoulders. This broke her down and tears formed in her eyes.

"I have to do this, Val," he said quietly to her. "I don't want to, but I have to. You understand?"

She nodded and then buried her face into his chest and cried softly. "I'm scared," she whispered to him so only he could hear. Slade could see the pain in the teen's face as he wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. He smiled under his mask in pure joy of seeing the teen being so tormented by emotions. This was what he loved.

"Shh," Jake whispered to her. "Why do we fall, Val?"

She gave a small giggle and looked up at him. Her cheeks were all wet from her tears and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "How many times did we see that movie?" she asked him with a smile. She was referring to the movie _Batman Begins_. They had seen the movie so many times it was not even funny.

"But why do we fall?" he asked her again with a forced smile.

She sighed and said, "To learn to pick ourselves up."

"We will pick ourselves up after this, Val," he told her. "I might get paid. If that happens we can get a new home somewhere else and not have to do this kind of stuff ever again. I promise that I will never let this kind of thing happen to you again. And I promise that you will not get hurt."

"Promise?" she asked him with a hopeful smile.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," he said with a nod. "I'll even shake on it." She hesitated but did the crazy handshake with him anyway. They both slammed their fists together and then shook hands while spitting on the floor. "We might need a different handshake," he said with a small laugh.

Valentine giggled at how goofy they must have looked in front of Slade. Jake smiled at her while pushing a lock of her beautiful brown hair out of her eyes. He then kissed her on the forehead and said, "Now, be your bad ass self and hang in there till I come back." She giggled again at his cockiness. Suddenly she was not so scared anymore.

Slade was now confused. He thought there would be a lot of tears shared between the two siblings. He was also kind of mad that Jake had turned the tables on him once again. He had somehow gotten the girl to laugh. Then they made some kind of promise and did a funny handshake on it. Once again Jake had surprised Slade. The boy could be strong in the worst of times. Another quality Slade saw in Robin. Picking Red X to switch with Robin was such a good choice.

Once Valentine was taken away it was only Jake and Slade. The teen looked to the floor with a small frown on his face. He fidgeted with his mask as Slade came up to him. He had cheered up Valentine, but he had not cheered himself up.

"How touching," Slade said while circling the teen with his one eye narrowing on him. His voice was cold and harsh and always seemed to strike Jake at just the right places to make shivers go down his spine. "But what if her big brother can't live up to his little promise?"

"I rarely make promises, Slade," Jake said while glaring at the man with hatred burning inside of him. He still kept his emotions in check and only let a little slip out to make a point to Slade. "But when I make them I always live up to them. You do not have to fear that I'll fail. I'll do this for you with no more complaining and no mess-ups for here on out. But remember that I'm not doing it for you. I'm only doing it for Valentine. After this I don't want to see your face ever again. I'll just take my sister and leave. Don't bother me or her after that."

"Sounds like a good deal," Slade said. "Fine, Jake. I'll leave you completely alone after you do this for me unless something goes wrong. Not only will your sister die if that happens, but I'll come after you and kill you personally. So I'll give you some more advice. Don't mess up. And this time take the advice. You do remember what happened last time I gave you some advice?"

"Yes," Jake said with a stiff nod. "I remember."

A/N: So how was this chapter? I spent some time on it. I'm trying out new words from thesauruses, so if I get some vocabulary wrong then I'm sorry. I noticed that I'm using the same words over and over again, so I had to pull out my old, trusty thesaurus to get new stuff. Writing about Slade is hard! The guy is the best villain and I can't seem to portray is character right. Well, what do you readers think? Please, please give a review! It would mean a lot. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3 The Big Switch

A/N: I'm seriously sorry for not updating in a long time. I had to finish up my Island Hunting and I said that I was not going to update anything till I got my Jak and Daxter fic updated. So here is your chapter! I'm now saying that this is AFTER the End episodes now. Sorry if it bores you because I'm not well into the plot quite yet. After this chapter it will be. But please give a review! Thanks! Some questions will be answered at the end of chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: what is there to say? You guys already know.

Chapter 3 The Big Switch

Robin drummed his fingers on his desk then ran his them through his raven black hair. He gave a sigh while staring up at the giant computer screen. He had been sitting there for around three hours with his mind spinning with all kind of theories and ideas about Red X. Where was he going to strike next? He had finally returned to Jump City to steal. This time he did not bother to get his belt back. It did not matter because he was just as good with or without it.

"He has no pattern to his outings," Robin muttered to himself while picking up his notepad and circling a note he had taken a long time ago. "How can we figure out where he will go next when even the villain does not know?" he asked himself with a sigh.

"This is all my fault!" he yelled at himself while throwing the notepad to the floor in frustration. He then got mad at himself for freaking out like that again for the fourth time that night. "What have I created?" he asked himself weakly while rubbing his forehead. "No," he said while shaking his head. "It was all Slade's fault. He tricked me into creating Red X. But I still took the bait without thinking…" he trailed off. In his mind he still took all the blame for Red X. He could not get over it, and it only made him mad and frustrated.

Suddenly the room was filled with red light and the alarm blasted into his ears. He jumped from the small surprise and waited for his team to get there. They all arrived at around the same time. Starfire and Raven flew into the room first with Cyborg right on their tails. Beast Boy of course arrived last while rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Dude, it's three in the morning!" he complained. "I'm guessing it is Red X. That dude never seems to sleep! I have no idea how he can do it?"

"Maybe he has insomnia," Cyborg said with a shrug. He looked over to Robin and said, "Like someone we know." Robin ignored him. So he had a hard time sleeping. Did it really matter? He fought crime just as good as the others with or without sleep. Plus, when he did sleep he was just faced with frustrating nightmares that seemed to never go away.

"If you guys are so tiered then sprint to the T-car," Robin said while seeing where they needed to be and whom they had to take down. "To the warehouse by the docks," he said while spinning around on his heel. He headed for the door in a quick walk and added, "It is Red X again."

"I was right!" Beast Boy said with a smile. He pumped his right arm into the air in a small victory dance. "I'm so smart!"

"It does not take a super genius to figure that out," Raven muttered to him while flying ahead to catch up with Robin. They all jogged to the garage with the exception of Raven and Starfire flying. Raven flew up to Robin and asked him, "Who steals from an old warehouse?"

He had been thinking the same thing. "Don't know," he said to her quickly while picking up the pace and going into a sprint. The others moaned as they saw that they had to hurry, but started to sprint after him anyway. "But this time Red X is going to jail."

"Don't you think it was odd that he did not take anything yesterday?" she asked him after she flew around a corner. Robin was going so fast that he had to slide to a stop sideways then take off in the right direction.

"He is acting strange lately, but why should we really care," he said to her as they ran up to the T-car. They all piled in and Cyborg took off. Robin was sitting next to him while thinking deeply about this. What was Red X up to? Ever since he came back he was more careful and popping up at different places and always seemed to be ahead of Robin's team.

"I'll look into it," Raven said to Robin while buckling herself up.

Robin looked behind the seat and gave her a strange look. "Why?" he asked her. "I can do it."

"So can I," she snapped back at him. She saw him frown at her, and she knew from his strong vibes that he was deeply annoyed at her. He turned back around and folded his arms in front of him in silence. Raven knew they would talk later about the matter of Red X. She knew what he was feeling.

They arrived at the warehouse quickly, and they all jumped out of the car all too ready for another fight. Robin had gotten them all wild up with that sprint and they were itching to kick some bad guy butt. Even Beast Boy was in a happy mood that early morning. Usually he was a bit sluggish and would complain.

The morning air was cold and misty. There was a fog all around them as they got out of the car because they were right next to the water. The warehouse was big and had other little ones around it. It was old and was one of the first buildings built in the city. Most of the windows were smashed and graffiti signs covered every wall.

"Follow close behind me," Robin said over his shoulder as he walked over to the biggest building there. The door to this building was locked, but there was a hole big enough for them all to easily fit through. Inside the warehouse were only old machine parts and birds trying to sleep in the rafters' way above. Everything was dusty and had a layer of grim on it. It was still cold and dark, though, and it made Robin shiver. He still had nightmares of that time Slade's dust was in his system. He would never feel completely safe in the dark anymore.

"Split up," Robin told them while taking out a small flashlight from his belt. "But stay in someone else's sight. Be on high alert. We don't know if this is a trap."

"Who would wish to stay in here?" Starfire asked them while hiding behind Robin's cape. This place reminded her of their basement when Raven had denied her fear and made anything scary come to life. She looked over to Robin, and he gave her a warm smile to encourage her. She smiled back and went her own way with Raven following slightly behind her as if only a shadow in the green light of Starfire's starbolt.

Beast Boy turned into a bird and flew above them. He then swooped down close to Robin and made a loud bird cry while flying over his head. Robin jumped with a gasp of surprise while taking out a bird-a-rang. That had freaked him out so much! He then got angry as he saw Beast Boy land as a human next to him while laughing hard.

"You should have seen your face!" Beast Boy said through laughter. "It was priceless!"

"Cut it out!" Robin snapped at him in anger. He wanted to push the changeling to the ground, but he controlled his anger and just stormed off deeper into the darkness of the giant room. He tried to steady his hand that was shaking slightly. Why did he have a feeling that something very bad was going to happen? Maybe he had just not gotten over that thing with the dust yet.

The thought was stupid. Even though Slade had disappeared after helping them defeat Trigon it was not possible that he still wanted Robin. Slade had failed and tried again with Terra. He would not want to try to get Robin back now, would he? Robin shook the thought out of his head. He should not think only about his own safety from Slade.

Robin walked along steadily and trying to not appear freaked out to his team that kept looking to him to make sure everyone was okay. So far everything seemed to be fine and nothing was there. Robin noticed that Starfire was starting to get scared again when she saw a rat. Raven had to walk beside her to calm her down. Cyborg and Beast Boy had teamed up too.

_I'm all alone again_, Robin thought while glancing over to his other teammates. He pushed the thought out of his head and kept searching. Suddenly the floor under him dropped. He gave a short yell of fear and surprise while trying to pull out his grappling hook. He was then suddenly in a plastic tube as if in a slide.

Robin pointed his grappling hook up and shot into the air. Before he was yanked to a stop, his hip hit the bottom of the slide and he fumbled with the gadget. It fell out of his hands as he kept sliding down the tube. "No!" he yelled while going around a corner. He tried to get to stop by hanging onto the side, but they were too slippery and he was going too fast.

Robin thought fast and pulled out one of his bird-a-rangs and slammed it down into plastic to slow down. The weapon barely touched the slid when suddenly Robin was falling into another room. He landed on his feet in the room with a wince. He felt his right ankle snap from landing so hard on the metal floor. He gave a small yell of pain while trying to get up.

"Where am I?" he asked himself while looking around. He was trapped in a small plastic room that was bathroom stall sized. The floor had little holes in it. This did not look good. It sent a flash of panic into Robin's body and his heart started to race and he was breathing hard.

"You're mine, Robin," someone said from a speaker in the small cage.

"No!" Robin said while backing up into the wall behind him in shock. It was Slade. "You're dead," he said. "This is just in my head. This is not real." He took out another one of his bird-a-rangs and threw it at the opposite wall. It bounced back at Robin, and the teen had to catch it before it hit him.

"You're not getting out of there anytime soon," came Slade's voice again. Robin saw two figures walk up to the box he was in. It was Slade and Red X. Robin was in total shock as he saw the two people. How could he think this all up? This time it was real! His feelings had been right this whole time. He made a quick mental note to stick with his gut feeling for the rest of his life.

"I'm getting out of here," Robin muttered to himself while running up to the other wall. He winced as his ankle sent a jolt of pain. He stumbled a bit on the floor because now he could only use one foot to avoid extreme pain. Robin took out a small bomb he had created for times like these. He put it on the wall then ran over to the opposite wall and prepared for the explosion.

Sure, the explosion was big, but it did nothing but leave a black mark. When the smoke cleared Robin stared at the mark in disbelief. Then purple mist started to come up from the holes in the floor. Now Robin freaked. He could feel the sleeping effects start only after two seconds. Robin's vision started to fuzz up as he tried to stay awake. He fell to his hands and knees then finally passed out.

- Jake -

"Suit up quickly," Slade ordered Jake while handing him Robin's outfit. "The others will wonder where Robin is."

Jake did everything in silence and a frown planted on his face. Slade knew that he did not want to do this at all but was ignoring his sour attitude. He dressed quickly then was handed the mask. He gave a sigh of defeat then put it on. When he was done he looked exactly like the young leader. He had cut his hair and died the blond part back to its normal color.

Slade looked him over with a nod. He was very pleased. "If both of you were standing by each other I would never be able to tell the difference," he said while smiling under his mask. "Amazing how the two of you look so much alike."

"No," Jake said. "Its not amazing. Its just scary."

Slade gave another shrug as if he did not care. Robin was in his hands now. Jake had to be placed back into the Titan's. He nodded to the new Robin and the teen walked over to a door and disappeared into the darkness.

It baffled Jake that Slade could make a whole layer underground right under a warehouse without anyone really knowing. He had slipped under the careful watch of the Teen Titans so easily. Slade had told him about the dust thing and how Robin thought he saw Slade even though he was not there. Of course Slade had activated it to test Robin. And of course Robin had passed it with flying colors. Jake just had to know about that small detail about Robin's life so he would not make a mistake if one of the Titans talked to him about it.

Jake finally made it to the surface right outside the warehouse. He ran to the door to the warehouse and peeked in to see the other Titans searched desperately for Robin. They were calling his name and looking everywhere. Jake took a deep breath to calm himself then walked inside. No turning back now.

"Robin!" Starfire yelled while spotting him. She quickly flew up to Jake and hugged him. He winced, as his bones seemed to be crushed under her alien strength. She finally let him with a smile. He forced a smile and remembered Slade telling him that Robin had a bit of a crush on Starfire. It would be easy for Jake to like her.

"What happened to you, man?" Cyborg asked him as he and the others ran up to Jake. They all looked so worried about Robin. Too bad this was the wrong Robin. Jake felt so bad for lying to them. But he had to stay focused or Valentine would pay for it. So how would Robin react to this? When he was now placed in the teen's shoes he really did not know for sure.

"Trap door," Jake said quickly. He had changed his voice to sound like Robin's. He was pretty good at sounding like other people. He had picked it up in the orphanage on boring rainy days to entertain some of the other kids. Valentine loved it when he would do the voices of the Teen Titans when he told her fights he had with them as Red X. He missed her already.

"The door just lead to someplace underground," he added. "I found stairs that went outside. Nothing was there, though. But have you found anything?"

"Nothing, dude," Beast Boy said. "I guess we came down here for nothing. Another night wasted!"

Jake nodded then said, "Let's search the other warehouses." He really did hate to make the others look all night for someone who was not even there. He could not even believe that he was making it this far. He could not believe he was doing _this_!

"Fine," Beast Boy moaned while walking out of the building. The others followed right behind him with as much emotion he was showing.

As they quickly walked over to the next warehouse, Raven levitated next to Jake to talk. "You think too much about Red X," she said to him in a voice only the two could hear. "If we do not find him here then let me take up the case."

Jake looked to the ground in thought. This must have been a subject the two had been talking about right before the big switch. He went with what he knew of the Boy Wonder and started to wing it with her. "I'll take care of it, Raven," Jake said with some sternness in his voice.

"But I want to help," Raven said. "You can't fight him all by yourself, Robin. It is about time you let one of us give you some help. You are not in this alone." She was about to touch his shoulder to try to figure out his emotions. They were really mixed up right now and it felt like he was a complete stranger. Yet this was Robin. Her very best friend that had always been there for her. She guessed that she just needed to meditate.

"I'll be fine without you," Jake said quickly and moving slightly away so she could not touch him. That was one thing Slade had told him a lot. Don't let Raven touch him. He never said why.

"Hey, look over there!" Cyborg said to them. He pointed to a truck starting up in the maze of small warehouses. They had not seen it through the thick fog till it had started up and shown its lights.

Jake gave a silent sigh. He had felt Raven try to pry into his head the whole time they talked. She knew something was different about him. If they had talked any longer he would have been found out. This new distraction from Slade was perfect.

"Titans go!" Jake yelled while pointing at the truck driving away. He smiled at the power those two words possessed. The whole team flew into action in less than seconds.

Cyborg grabbed the bumper of the truck and easily stopped it there in its tracks. He gave a small grunt when the person driving it sped up to get away. Starfire used her strength to rip off the top of the car as if she was opening a can of soda. She gave a small scream from surprise when a net popped out of the car and tangled her up in it. She quickly used her starbolts to cut her way through.

The car doors opened and the Titans were surprised to see five people step out wearing all black. Jake was not very scared. These were really Slade's new robots that were programmed to know every move the Titans had. They were better than his others were. Jake had fought one for a few minutes and he would have to say that it had been a good challenge.

"Take them down," Jake said to his new team. He pretended like he knew what he was doing by pulling whatever was in his back pocket out. Ah, the Bo Staff. The only thing Jake had no idea how to fight with. Just his crappy luck doing its magic on him. Of all the weapons he could have taken out he had to pick this one. He could not just put it back. He would look stupid and any one of the Titans could start to wonder.

They all seemed to attack at once with no hesitation. They all choose their own person to fight quickly and went into action. Starfire flew above her robot with her eyes and hands glowing a brilliant green. She started to skillfully throw as many starbolts she could muster at one time at the robot. The thing easily did a few flips to get away from her attack. It jumped onto the top of the truck and slammed into her in mid-air. They both smashed into a warehouse and bricks started to rain down on the ones below.

As this was going on, Beast Boy was backing up away from his own robot with a small smile on his face. The robot lunged at him and the green teen quickly turned into a cat and ran through his legs. He turned sharply around while morphing into a panther. A deep growl escaped his mouth as he pounced on the robot. But the thing was stronger than what Beast Boy had expected and after being brought down he kicked Beast Boy into the air.

Cyborg and his robot were going at it with intense punches and kicks. Cyborg was slammed up against the truck with a small yell of surprise of how hard this person could punch. He looked up as Starfire kicked her robot off her and sent the thing into another warehouse. Suddenly a dumpster dropped on top of the robot trying to punch Cyborg again.

"Thanks, Rae!" Cyborg yelled up to his friend. Raven gave a silent nod from where she was levitating above the others and picking up random things to fight these new foes. She spotted the person who she thought was Robin and stuck her hand out at a few fallen bricks to make them levitate.

Jake gave a loud battle yell while slamming the Bo Staff down on the robot. It seemed to do nothing to it. Boy, these things were strong! Jake gave up on the weird staff and put it back. He would have to practice more with it later. He took out a bird-a-rang with a sly smile on his face. He threw it like he would one of his X's and the thing got stuck in the robot's shoulder.

Beast Boy landed with a loud _'uuff'_ next to Jake. The teen looked down at the changeling with a bit of surprise. Beast Boy got up with a wince then winked to Jake before throwing himself back into battle. It was odd how much these guys could take. Giving up was never an option, and Jake loved seeing that in someone else.

Jake had to quickly duck to dodge another attack from his robot. He rolled to his side and threw another bird-a-rang at the thing. A brick suddenly whacked into the back of the robot's head and sent it stumbling forward into Jake's roundhouse kick. Jack then flung the robot into a brick wall. It finally slumped to the ground in sparking bits. It was dead.

"Dude, look out!" Beast Boy shouted to Jake as he saw the robot he had been battling came at Jake. The teen spun around while taking out two bird-a-rangs from his belt. In a flash he had the robot cut. It fell to the floor in three pieces that twitched a little.

"Victory!" Starfire cheered while gracefully flying up to Jake with a wide smile on her face. The rest of the team gathered up around Jake with smiles for winning a good battle.

"Let's celebrate!" Beast Boy said while pumping his fist into the air.

Jake smiled at his actions. He guessed that Robin let them do that a lot. "Where to?" he asked them.

"Aw, yes!" Cyborg said. "How 'bout a milkshake?"

"Oh, yes, please," Starfire said while smiling again. "I adore the shaking of the milk!"

"Sure," Raven said without even a shrug. She was just thinking about how Robin was acting. He was normal but different. She just could not place a finger on it. She studied him closely. Somehow he was not the Robin she knew. She would figure it out by herself. Her teammates might not be able to see him differently, but she sure could.

A/N: Okay, to answer the big question of who Red X will start to like. First, the romance is very and I mean very little! It is just going to come in handy later on in the story. Sorry to disappoint y'all. And I don't want to tell you who he likes because where is the fun in that? I like to keep you guys guessing all the way. And you will see more of Red X and not Jake later on. Robin is coming in too a lot, so don't complain about not seeing him often when the fic is about him. Just be good little readers and review. Heck, just say what you want. I don't really care!

And I want to ask you readers a small favor. I'm going to New York City in a few days for a mission trip with my youth group for two whole weeks! Don't worry. I will write in the subway. But what I will be doing is going up and talking to random people. If the subject of God comes up then it will be good. But my team is not forcing it down people's throats. But I'm really scared of talking to strangers. I would rather sky dive! So if you can, please pray for me. Just a small favor. But I think I'll have a blast. NYC is so much fun! Thanks you guys. Please give a review!


	4. Chapter 4 Waking Up to a Nightmare

A/N: I have so much hits on this fic it is not even funny! But very little reviews. I have little to say right now. I just have my day off from work and I have writer's block for my Jak and Daxter fic once again. I'm still working out the ending of this fic and trying to get Robin's plot right. He is not going to stay in Jump City for too long and will be all over the place, so I'm getting some research for those places he will be. But enjoy the chapter! R&R, please! Thanks!

Disclaimer: Don't and never will own them!

Chapter 4 Waking Up to a Nightmare

Waking up was dreaded and miserable as hell. His world seemed to be spinning and he could not hear anything at first. Suddenly he was sick to his stomach. It was a feeling that Robin rarely ever had in his life. Only when he got sick one time as a kid he had the stomachache. But this was just too much for his strong stomach.

Robin rolled to the side of the table he was laying on and threw up anything that was left in his stomach. The smell was disgusting and almost overwhelming for his nose. His throat burned as the acid from his stomach came up with all his dinner. It was a totally weak feeling. He hated it.

"I see that you're awake," Slade said. He stood next to Robin with his hands placed behind his back in his normal relaxed stance that just made him extra creepy to some. He smiled under his mask as he saw Robin wince.

"What did you do to me?" Robin asked Slade with his voice barely above a whisper and shaking dramatically. He then threw up again.

Slade shook his head with a small chuckle that made a shiver go down Robin's spine. "Just something I made. It was in that gas that knocked you out. It should shut down your whole body for today and tomorrow. But until then, you can't do anything. You might not even be able to stand at this moment."

Robin was breathing hard when he rested his back against the cold, metal table again. He could not think. He was still trying to understand what Slade had just said. He knew it had been a few simple sentences, but for some reason his brain was working so slow that he could not piece them together properly. It scared him.

"What do you want with me?" he finally asked Slade in that same weak voice. At least he could still talk like he should. He was thankful for that.

Slade frowned. "Maybe I put a little bit too much of that stuff into that gas," he said to Robin with his voice cold and harsh. "You know what I want, Robin. You." _Not again,_ was the only thing Robin could think at this point. (A/N: Ha! That's the name of another fic. Good fan fiction. Sorry to use your title here, Alex!)

Robin winced as he tried to move his legs. His ankle gave him a burst of pain and he almost yelled out. His brain finally computed what Slade had said after a few silent seconds. It was getting harder to think straight because a migraine was starting to pound away at his head.

Slade accepted Robin's silence. He knew that the boy must be having a hard time thinking things through. He would give him a few hours of peace. The information needed to sink into the teen's head before he could do anything productive with him. He noticed that Robin was moving one foot around, but was ignoring the other. He must have sprained or fractured it.

The villain walked to the end of the table and touched Robin's bad ankle. He smiled when Robin made a small kick at him with his other foot. It had been slow, but that was only because of the stuff in his system. Slade just liked the idea that Robin was still quick in some ways.

Slade caught Robin's foot with one hand and pulled it toward him. He slid Robin's body across the table and this made the boy give a small cry of alarm. Slade grabbed Robin's hand and forced him to sit up. Robin gave a small moan as his head protested. Stars danced across his vision for a few seconds.

"I'm checking your ankle," Slade said simply. "Any small pain in your body can be amplified by a lot. Just a sprained ankle could hurt more than one that is broken."

There was a long pause. "I guess you're expecting a thank you," Robin mumbled. He glared coldly at Slade. "You won't ever get one from me, though."

"Really, I wasn't expecting one from you just yet," Slade said. He quickly pulled off Robin's shoe and this made the teen yell out in pain. "But you will soon respect me enough to say it."

Another long pause from Robin. Boy, was his brain going slow! "Only in your dreams, Slade," he spat out at his enemy. "I'm not doing anything for you."

"Oh, but my dreams are about to come true," Slade said while leaning his face close to Robin's. He then went back to checking Robin's ankle. It was only sprained, so he wrapped some bandage around it to keep it in place. He was in the middle of doing this when he glanced up to Robin. The boy was swaying slightly with a dazed expression on his pale face.

"Shi…" Robin muttered right before leaning over the edge of the table again to vomit. When he was finished Slade was already done. Robin looked up at Slade with anger burning in his eyes. The man's back was to him because he was messing with some gadget on a different table, and it was the perfect time to attack. Robin did not care that he was weak. He would beat Slade to a pulp.

With what little energy Robin had in his body, he pushed off the table he was on. "Whoa!" he shouted as he stumbled. Slade turned around to see Robin barely standing up and looking like a drunk man. He came in just in time to prevent Robin from falling onto his butt. The boy was extremely underweight for his age. He was as light as a feather. Slade wondered how he could ever deliver such strong kicks and punches with such little body weight.

"Put me down!" Robin yelled at him as he was easily thrown over the man's shoulder. Slade ignored his plea and forced him down on the table again. He silently started to strap Robin to it with thick leather straps that he knew the Boy Wonder would not ever get out of in his current condition. Maybe if his body was working correctly he could, but never now.

Robin caught on right away. "You can't keep me here, Slade!" he shouted loudly as he strained against the straps. His protests were useless, though. Robin tried with all his might to get out, but he was just hurting himself.

"Calm down, Robin," Slade ordered him. He lightly placed his hand on the boy's chest. After a few seconds Robin stopped trying to get loose. His chest rose and fell to his deep breathing. Everything was finally sinking into his head and he was realizing what big of a mess he was in.

"I'm leaving for a few hours," Slade said to Robin calmly. "The slowness might wear off by then, so that is why I have you strapped down. I don't like to take too many chances, especially with my new prize." Robin pulled one more time at the straps to give a hint to Slade that he did not like the idea. Slade tilted Robin's head to the side by using an index finger. "You are mine, Robin. You belong to no one else anymore. Get used to it."

- Jake -

Jake woke up with a small smile on his lips. He thought that he was waking up in his crummy apartment with his little sister sleeping beside him. Then the past events hit him and he frowned while opening his eyes to see if it was all true. Sadly, it was. He was tangled up in the sheets of Robin's bed. He wondered how the real leader was waking up that day. It had to be worse. This thought only made Jake guilty and depressed.

"Good morning," Slade said from the end of the bed. He smiled wickedly under his mask as he saw Jake jump from surprise with his eyes wide with horror in them. The kid was on his feet in only the matter of seconds. He only had Robin's pants on. He did not wear much to sleep at night.

"What are you doing here?" Jake hissed at him. "How did you get in the Tower without setting off all the alarms? I closed all the doors behind me last night."

Slade took a step toward the boy and noticed that Jake took an unsure step back. So he was a little bit of afraid of Slade. It put the man into a good mood to have people fearing him. "I came in the easy way," Slade said while nodding his head slightly toward the open window in the room. "Quite easy, really. If you really want me out, then get a better security system in your room."

"There is a camera in this room," Jake said with his voice with more confidence now. The shock of the surprise visit was wearing off.

Slade shrugged while putting his hands behind his back in a cool and relaxed manner. "Do you really think any of the other Titans will be checking the security cameras to your room at eight in the morning? I know them more than you know them, Jake. Some are not even up at this time. Expect to only see Raven and Cyborg in the main room when you go down there in a while."

"I know them as much as you do, Slade," Jake said angrily at him.

Slade frowned and walked up to the teen. Jake stood his ground with a rebellious scowl planted on his face. He looked so much like Robin right now. "You still don't know your place, do you?" Slade asked him with a hint of anger slipping into his steady voice.

"My place is right here," Jake said. "I'm not moving."

"I'll have to show it to you, then," Slade said. As quick as a striking snake, Slade had Jake's wrist in one hand. Jake reacted quickly. He flung his fist back and got ready for a punch. Slade caught his fist and twisted both of the teen's arms behind him. He shoved the kid onto the bed and pinned him there with his knee on his back.

Jake was in shock. He had looked like a fool trying to fight Slade. He had never seen somebody that fast except Robin sometimes. He was way outmatched here. Was this how Robin felt all the time? It was an awful and sick feeling.

"You obey my every command," Slade whispered into Jake's ear. He had a deathly tone to his voice and it made Jake shudder. "I could kill you or your sister in only the matter of seconds. You listen to me and only me for now on. You are mine to control. You gave yourself up that other day. Keep to your promise, Jake, and you will be safe."

"I get it, okay?" Jake snapped back at him. He struggled in the vice grip around his wrist. He cried out when Slade tightened his grip and shoved his knee harder onto Jake's back.

"I don't want that attitude, Jake," Slade said harshly. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes!" Jake yelled out as Slade twisted his arm some more.

"Good," Slade said while letting go of the teen and shoving him into the bed with his one eye narrowing dangerously at him. Jake winced while rubbing his wrist. A big red mark showed him exactly where Slade's hand had been.

Jake stayed silent as Slade observed him. He did not feel like talking to this man anymore. He did not feel like doing anything. So he just started to get ready for the dreaded day ahead. He pulled on a shirt and started to get into his metal bottom shoes when Slade finally spoke again.

"Stay away from Raven," he said suddenly. Jake looked up at him with a quizzical look on his face. Slade answered the question going through his mind. "She can read minds. She can also feel your vibes and moods. I don't want you around her much. She might figure it out. Keep your mind focused. If you do that then it will be harder for her to read your thoughts. Don't let her do that."

"She already knows something is up," Jake said. He pulled on his shoes then started with his gloves. Everything was very similar to his old suit. "Last night she kept asking me questions. I think she is testing me to see if I'm the real Robin."

"Then give her what she wants," Slade said simply. "I don't want her to know or suspect anything. If she does then you could be found out in the next few days. Don't mess this up!"

"Hey, I made a promise," Jake said with a frown coming to his face. "If I mess up Val gets it. I'm not going to let that happen." He paused then finally asked the question on his mind. "How long will I have to be clone boy?"

Slade folded his arms in front of him and said, "As long as it takes."

"And how long will that be?" Jake asked him. Slade narrowed his eye at him and Jake smiled while saying, "Kidding. Can't you take a joke?" Slade did not answer. Jake finally lowered his eyes and muttered a small sorry for his attitude.

"One last thing I need from you," Slade said. Jake looked up at him with much dread on his face and the light in his eyes slowly fading away. "I want you to keep being Red X."

There was silence till Jake freaked out. "Are you crazy!" he exploded loudly. "Well, yeah, you are crazy. But I can't be Red X and Robin at the same time! It might be possible for the Boy Wonder, here. But for cone boy it is too much!"

"Just find out how Robin did it the first time," Slade said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. Jake was just a pest in his eyes. He was too cocky for his own good. Slade would dispose of him once everything was finished. But right now he had to trust in this small teen for the future of his plan was really in Jake's hands. Jake had no clue how important he was.

Jake calmed down quickly and rubbed his forehead just like Robin did when frustrated. Another headache was sure to come. It almost made Slade laugh at how the two were so much alike. "Sure, fine," Jake said while closing his eyes. "Juggling one more identity is fine with me. Let's see how much you can make me go!"

Slade ignored his last sentence. Some people were just sarcastic and you could never change that in that person. Jake was one of those. "I'll be keeping a sharp eye on you," Slade said while walking over to the window. "If I see anything I don't like I'll give you another visit. And destroy this recording of our conversation. I don't take as many chances as you think I do. Understand?"

"Yes," Jake said with a stiff nod. Slade then left as quickly as he had arrived. Jake let out a small sigh then ran a gloved hand through his hair. "Ouch," he muttered while rubbing his sore wrist. Boy, Slade was strong. Jake put on his mask and walked out of the room. Time to be Robin.

* * *

The alarm went off at midnight. Jake grumbled something into his pillow then turned it off in the darkness. The only time to snoop around the Tower was at the dead of night. If he wanted to pull off being a great superhero and a talented thief at the same time like Slade wanted, he better know what he was doing before plunging into the deep end. The places he would go just for his little sister! She better thank him after this!

Jake pulled on a sleeveless shirt and baggy jeans. He grabbed his mask and put it on as an after thought. He did not dare put on any shoes. Waking up any of the other Titans would bring his whole cover to shambles. Or maybe Robin stayed up this late. He kept the mask on just to be on the safe side. No chances this time.

The teen quietly crept down the hall as silently as he could muster. He went down the stairs to the main room with the giant computer system. He smiled while typing in a few things. After a bit of some good computer hacking skills, Jake was into the few files there. He finally found the one about Red X that Cyborg had started. The half robot had ended it when he found out Robin was Red X. It had a little bit more about when Jake had showed up as the new Red X.

Jake read the file and realized that Robin must have used holograms. His heart sank. He was not that smart! He had no idea how to program one or how he could use them like Robin had. He would have to do it the hard way. Or did he? Jake smiled slyly as the plan hit him. If he played his cards right, he could be both and not even break a sweat.

Suddenly there was a sound from the elevator. Jake froze then clicked out of the file as quickly as he could. He crouched down behind the couch right when the door to the elevator opened. Beast Boy came into the dark room with a yawn.

"Man! I gotta stop having dreams about salt eating contests," Beast Boy mumbled randomly as he stumbled across the room to the kitchen for something to drink. Jake breathed a sigh of relief for the darkness of the room. It had been stupid to put on a white shirt to sneak around in.

Beast Boy came out of the kitchen with a glass of milk. He glanced over to the computer and noticed that Robin was not up for once. He smiled slightly. He did worry about his leader. Robin could be serious and so focused sometimes, but he was never demanding or mean. Beast Boy liked him for that. Robin never used his power over the Titans to his own benefit.

Then the changeling caught the sent of some other person in the room. That was weird. No one else was here. "Robin?" he asked and was only returned with silence. Now he felt like an idiot. No surprise there. He sniffed the air again and knew for sure that someone was there hiding from him.

"Who ever you are, come out!" Beast Boy said as serious as he could.

"It's just me, Beast Boy," Jake said while standing up. Beast Boy knew he was there. If he did not say anything and got caught it would not end well. "I was just looking for um…the remote."

"Oh," Beast Boy said with surprise in his voice. "Are you okay? You smell funny."

"I'm fine," Jake responded while sounding annoyed. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I wanted milk," Beast Boy said while shoving the glass of milk into his friend's face. "Is that a sin? What were you doing?"

"Research," Jake said while folding his arms in front of him.

"Hey! I'm wide-awake now. Want to play a video game?" Beast Boy said as the random thought popped into his head. Jake was starting to see that the kid did that often. Random could be Beast Boy's middle name. Beast Boy's ears perked up as he waited for Robin to answer.

"Um…" Jake started while scratching the back of his neck. "I need…sure." Why not?

"Sweet!" Beast Boy said while jumping over the couch without spilling any of his milk. He took out two controllers and handed one to Jake while booting up his game with a big smile on his face. Jake sat down on the couch. Good thing he knew how to play one of these things. Beast Boy sat cross-legged next to him wearing that same smile.

They started to play _Need For Speed 3_ and had police cars chasing after them. Both started to get competitive with their cars and started to make each other crash into trees and stuff. They had played for around an hour nonstop till Jake finally realized what he was doing. He felt so guilty. It kept eating away at him. He was taking the place of Robin.

"Dude, you okay?" Beast Boy asked him suddenly. "You just got another ticket and I heard no protest."

"I'm okay," Jake answered quickly with a weak smile. "Just thinking," he said quietly as an afterthought.

"Yeah, that's what makes you never do this with me," Beast Boy said while pausing the game. "You think way too much. Just give the stupid Red X case to Raven."

"How do you know about that?" Jake asked him.

"I over heard you two arguing over the thing a few times," Beast Boy said with a shrug. "But, dude, we don't care that you were Red X. Get over it and let Raven research the thief. After you helped her save the world she has been looking to pay you back."

Jake had no idea what he was talking about, but decided to go along with it. "But I think I'm getting somewhere. Red X has to come back for his belt. We just need to be ready with a trap for when he does come. Easy as that."

Beast Boy's eyebrows rose with surprise. "Never thought about that," he said with a smile. "I guess that is why you're the leader. But seriously, Robin, you need to lay off the whole Red X thing. I say it was really Slade's fault."

_Robin should be listening to this and not me,_ Jake thought while looking down. _I can't do this. I can't take Robin's spot. These aren't my friends._

"What are you two doing down here?" Raven asked the boys from behind. Both guys jumped into the air. Jake gave a gasp as Beast Boy screamed loudly out of fright. They looked over their shoulders to see Raven sanding there with her hands on her hips and a cold look in her eyes.

"Racing," Beast Boy answered. He lifted up the controller into the air and waved it around to get his point across. Raven stared at him like he was a boring slug. She then looked over to Jake with a raised eyebrow of wonderment. He forced a weak smile and gave a shrug.

"Okay," she finally said while folding her hands in front of her. "I'm not convinced. I heard you two talking. And I know how Beast Boy plays. He can't talk and play a game at the same time."

"Tell her!" Beast Boy whispered loudly at Jake.

"What?" Jake whispered back while glaring at the green teen.

"Don't be stupid, Robin," Beast Boy said with frustration in his voice. "Tell her!" He started to elbow Jake with a mischievous smile on his face. Raven watched them with a confused expression.

"Fine," Jake said finally with a small laugh at Beast Boy. He took a deep breath then said in a rush to Raven, "I'm giving you the case we were talking about last night."

There was a long silence as Raven stared at Jake with surprise. Jake did not know what to do. This must have been too much out of character for him. Slade was going to give him another painful visit that was for sure.

"Are you feeling okay, Robin?" Raven asked him with a smile playing at he corner of her lips.

"Forget it!" Jake said while turning his back to her. "If you don't want it then I will gladly keep the case."

"No, I'm sorry, Robin," Raven said while dropping the smile right away.

There was that long silence again. Beast Boy looked from one friend to the other with confusion. He then smiled and said with cheer in his voice, "Let's have some left over pizza! Leftovers are always good!"

"I have to get some sleep," Jake said quickly. He got up in a hurry and walked toward the stairs without saying a goodnight. He did want to talk more with Beast Boy, but not with Raven. He had to stay away from her. One slip up and she could figure him out in an instant. He could not take that chance.

"How 'bout you, Rae?" Beast Boy tried weakly while turning toward her.

"No," she snapped at him. He jumped a little with surprise at how harsh her voice had been. His ears dropped when he watched her take the elevator while mumbling something under her breath. She never said a sorry for her rude actions.

"Yeah," Beast Boy said to himself. "The two have problems." His ears then perked up as a thought hit him. "Maybe I can fix that!"

A/N: Okay, I need to work on my J&D fic right now before I leave for New York early Saturday morning. They say I will have lots of time on the subway to read or something, so I will spend a lot of time working on later chapters. So when I come back I can update quickly. But how did you like this chapter? Sorry if it was boring with no action. Nothing else to say but that I'm hungry. When is my mom coming back with the food? Oh, well. Just please give a review! Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5 Guilt

A/N: I'm back from New York! I'm so happy! It was a life changing experience for me. I gave up my writing skills to God! So I will be using them for him. I will still be writing fan fictions, but I will also be writing other stuff maybe on Fan Fiction Press if it is possible. But I'm so happy to have my computer back and my own bed! You do not know how happy I am right now! Anywho, on with the chapter you guys have been waiting for!

Disclaimer: You have to ride the short bus if you think I own any part of the Teen Titans.

Chapter 5 Guilt

"Good morning, Slade," Jake said as he woke up in his bed. A cocky expression was planted on his face as he yawned and stretched. He knew Slade would be there by the conversation he had with Raven and Beast Boy last night. And the teen had been right.

"I don't give you enough credit," Slade said from where he stood by the open window of Robin's room. He had his back leaned against the wall with his hands folded in front of him. He had waited for a few minutes for the boy to wake and was greeted before Jake had even seen him.

"Yeah, I know," Jake said while hopping off the bed. He grabbed his black and white mask and put it on before looking to Slade. "I do listen to people even if I don't want to. You said you would keep a close eye on me."

"Why the cheery and annoying mood?" Slade asked him. A small amount of amusement was in his one eye that was pinned on the teen dressing quickly for the day ahead.

"Because," Jake said. He had to stop when he pulled on his shirt. He spiked up his hair once again then went on. "I know how to be Red X and Robin and keep on fooling the Titans. I won't get beat up by you, and Val will stay safe. Things are going smoothly. Thanks for checking up on me, Slade, but I have things all under control." He gave the villain a two finger salute and headed for the door.

"Stop," Slade said right before Jake opened the door. He saw the teen cringe before turning around to face Slade again.

"Need something?" Jake asked him with a small frown. "I'm doing this with no complaining. What more do you want from me? Think that I feel guilty and covering up with the cheery act? Well, I've played the villain numerous times. I don't get guilt."

"I bet that was a mouthful," Slade said from where he still stood by the window. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving Jump City today with Robin and your sister. I'll keep in touch with you by communicator for the time being. After what you just said, I'm very sure you will be able to take care of things without my help. I'll still be watching."

"And Val?" Jake asked him seriously. "How will I get to her after this?"

"Let's just see how you work things out here with the Titans," Slade said evilly. He smiled under his mask as he saw Jake about to protest. The kid caught himself and swore quietly because he could not fight back. He frowned sourly after giving the man a nod that he understood.

"I'm looking forward to see your little plan," Slade said while pulling out a round communicator from his belt. It was the color black with two orange stripes going down the middle. "I want to hear from you afterwards." He threw the thing to Jake and the teen caught it with one hand. He looked at it then shook it as if he did not know what it was. "Careful with that," Slade said with annoyance.

Jake walked over to the bed side table and put the communicator in one of the cabinets. "I have breakfast," he said while walking over to the door.

"One more thing," Slade said while walking up to the boy. "You better not be getting guilty. I had no doubt about you. When you get guilty you start thinking about the victim. If I hear any plan to rescue Robin from you then I'll cut your sister open and spill all her guts over my hideout as a good reminder to your big mistake."

"I was just telling you that many thieves don't get guilty while stealing or afterwards," Jake said quickly with fear in his big blue eyes.

"There are mainly two kinds of thieves in this world," Slade said while standing over the teen with a dangerous distance between the two. Jake gulped down a bit of fear. "The first kind of thief steals for only themselves, and greed is the only word in their dictionary. The second kind of thief only steals what he can't afford. That means he does not want to steal and would get guilty if they did something they think is wrong. Question: what kind of thief are you?"

"Second," Jake said with a stiff nod. "I only steal what I can't afford, which is everything."

"Don't be getting guilty," Slade said with his tone ominous. "Or you will only be stealing for yourself."

- Beast Boy -

He had gotten up early even though he was extremely tiered from staying up late playing that game with Robin till two in the morning. It would have ended great if Raven had not come in like that.

Seriously, Beast Boy did not think he knew Robin at all. The two were almost complete opposites. He also did not know Raven much. What Beast Boy did know was that the two most serious members on his team were fighting. And he knew that those two were very good friends from that whole "end of the world" thing. They would never make up with each other because both were stubborn and had big pride issues. Maybe he could figure out what they were so upset over and try to get the other to see the other person's side of it. Plus, he was bored and needed something to do. This could get entertaining.

Robin came down the stairs looking a bit upset with that sour frown on his face. Beast Boy guessed that he still remembered that small conversation with Raven last night. The teen saw that nobody was there in the kitchen that morning except for the changeling, and he smiled slightly.

"Good morning, early riser!" Beast Boy said cheerfully to Robin. "I made you breakfast!" This was just all part of his "brilliant" plan to get one of the two to spill the beans with him. He had to know why the two were acting like enemies.

Robin stared at Beast Boy with surprise written on his serious face. "Oh," he finally said while sitting down on a bar stool and waited for the food. "Thanks, BB!"

"No problem," Beast Boy said with a wicked smile coming to his face. He set the plate down on the table and saw the leader smile as the wonderful smell of the pancakes hit his nose. "Do you want syrup with that?" the changeling asked while raising the bottle of sticky substance in his hands and a wide grin on his face.

"Um…Beast Boy," Robin said with some hesitation in his voice. "I don't want to sound rude, but, why all this for me?"

"What?" Beast Boy asked him with that same pleasant voice. He tried to keep the smile. Robin was catching on.

"You don't make pancakes for me too often," Robin said with a sly smile. "What do you want?"

Beast Boy deflated and his Elf like ears dropped as if he had given up on the nice act. "Why are you and Raven fighting?" he asked Robin after a sigh of defeat.

"We aren't fighting," Robin said while shifting in his seat and avoiding eye contact. He picked up a fork and was about to cut into his pancakes, but Beast Boy pulled them away with that wicked smile coming back to his face again. "Fine. You win. I just don't want her to take down Red X. She needs to stay out of my life."

"I'll live with that for now, Boy Wonder," Beast Boy said while slowly putting the plate back in front of Robin.

"Whatever," Robin said while slowly taking a bite from his breakfast. Beast Boy went back to making more pancakes for the rest of the team while he was at it. He kept stealing glances to Robin and started to worry again. The teen was not eating much and he had a look of guilt all over his face like he had from last night when they were playing the game station. But why would Robin be guilty?

The thought quickly vanished when the alarm went off. The sudden sound made Beast Boy scream from surprise. Robin looked up at him then ran over to the computer screen. By now the other members were there in the room.

"It's Mumbo," Robin said with some hesitation for some reason. "He…um…escaped jail." He turned to his team and the strong and confident leader came back in an instant. "Titans, go!" he yelled and they all went into action.

- ? -

How come Slade always seemed to know how to get the right people to do the dirty work for him and be his pawns? She had been an afterthought and very easy to find. Really, she was from the same school that pest, Jake, belonged to. While Slade had been looking up the kid he had found her by mistake and was surprised that she wanted to help him with capturing Robin and switching Jake with the leader of the Teen Titans. She had her own reasons that she did not mention to Slade. He had a few theories that she was just insane, but at least she was doing her job with no complaints. Funny thing was that she enjoyed doing her job.

Right now she stood next to Robin's sleeping body with her hard, blue eyes pinned on only him. He would wake soon to throw up once again. Slade had gone off to talk to Jake. She had been extremely surprised when she first heard from Slade that her boyfriend's best friend had been the city's greatest thief. When this was done she could not wait to tell the whole school. So she was a gossip queen. Isn't all girls?

Yesterday Robin had slept all day long and only woke to eat then throw it back up again. He stopped eating after the second try. He kept vomiting though. Slade said that Robin had to sleep to gain energy, but some of it was fake. Robin would pretend to be asleep to figure out what Slade was doing and how he was getting away with capturing him. But the stuff in his system would wear off soon. That was where she would come in handy.

Robin was having a nightmare at the moment, and she was curious to what was going through that mind of his as she watched him. He was sweating profusely and mumbling something under his breath incoherently. She held a small gloved hand out to touch the boy to maybe wake him up to another nightmare in its own.

Suddenly Robin woke up and grabbed her wrist before she could blink. She gave a small gasp of fright as he stared at her for a few seconds with his glare deadly. There was an ominous silence as the two watched each other. Robin did not have time to react much to seeing someone new. He leaned over the table and vomited once again before saying anything. That was the reason he could not be tied down. He threw up so often even if he had nothing in his stomach.

"Slade is gone for only a while," she said quietly as she smoothed her long blonde hair down. "He told me to watch you."

As quick as a snake, Robin swung his foot over at the mystery girl with a small battle yell. He did not care who worked with Slade. All he wanted was escape. Slade had no blackmail, so he had no need to stay.

"Stop!" the girl shouted right before Robin's foot violently collided with the side of her head. Her blue eyes glowed as well as Robin's frozen body. All the boy could move was his eyes. Finally she relaxed her powers and Robin's foot dropped.

"Figures," Robin muttered to himself as he rubbed his forehead with a black gloved hand. A headache was pounding away and not going to stop any time soon. He then quickly struck again with no warning at all. This time the girl was not fast enough to use her powers and was only able to duck. That was all Robin needed.

The girl looked over the table with wide eyes of surprise and saw the boy sprinting to the door of the hideout. Slade had been right. Robin had been faking his slowness for a long time. She gritted her teeth together and stuck a gray gloved hand out at Robin as her powers took over.

This move would take more focus. With a small battle cry, she opened her hand out so her palm was facing Robin. Her eyes glowed a dazzling blue as did Robin's body once again. He gave a sharp yell of alarm as he was forced to stop by an invisible hand. He was suddenly flying backwards till his back slammed into the metal table.

"It worked!" the girl squealed in delight as she jumped into the air with a smile. She then quickly ran around the table to where Robin sat in a daze. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at the teen with a wicked smile on her face. She loved to use her power. She loved the feeling of control.

Robin winced while holding his spinning head. He looked up at the girl with a hopeless expression on his face. She had long beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes with an evil gleam in them. She looked to be maybe around his age. She wore baggy jeans and a black top. Gray gloves came up past her elbows. It looked like she did not want people to see or touch her skin.

"Trying to run away?" she asked him sweetly while bending down to his eye level. "Can't have any of that." He swung his fist at her and she only had to look at it to stop him. "You can't do any hitting with me around, Robin."

"How do you do that?" Robin asked her with shock. His right arm was frozen in mid-air and he could not move it no matter what.

"Anything with blood in it I can control," she said. She let his arm go and suddenly Robin could move it to his own liking again. "For another example," she said while putting her palm out at Robin again. He right away could not feel anything as he glowed a light blue. He was forced to stand up. He then hovered in the air.

"How 'bout some fun?" she asked him as she started to slowly curl her hand into a fist. She kept her eyes on her poor victim as that wicked smile widened with pure enjoyment. Robin felt like he was being crushed from all around. He suddenly could not breathe. He panicked. He could do nothing!

"How much would you pay for air right now, Robin?" she asked him with a giggle. Robin closed his eyes as he counted the seconds without being able to breathe. The average person can hold their breath for around 45 seconds. Robin got to a minute before his lungs screamed for air. He would not make it any longer. The thought of death came to his mind only a second before he was rescued.

"Drop him," someone said from the doorway.

The girl stopped right away when her eyes moved away from Robin. The teen fell to the ground on his hands and knees gasping for long awaited sweet air. He winced a few times because his sides still felt like they were being crushed. He glanced up to see Slade standing at the door of the hideout with his hands behind his back. His one good eye was watching him closely as if observing his every mood and peeking into his thoughts. It made a shiver go down Robin's spine.

"Just some fun," the mysterious girl said to Slade with some seriousness in her voice. "I was not going to kill him, Master."

"I know," Slade said with a quick glace to her. "But you do tend to get carried away." The girl bowed her head as she waited for Slade to say more. Robin was still on his hands and knees only this time he was throwing up once again. Slade watched the boy until he was done.

With a slight nod from Slade, the girl forced Robin to his feet again by using her powers. She sat Robin down on the table and stepped in the shadows of the room to wait for another command from her master. Those cold blue eyes were always on Robin, never wavering and always alert. She was starting to give Robin the creeps. Only a few in this world could do that to him.

Defeat was starting to cloud Robin's head. If he even so dared to touch Slade, that girl would freeze him. He was at the man's mercy, which Slade had none. He felt weak and vulnerable. It was a feeling that he hated with so much passion. Only with Slade he could feel that way.

Robin looked to the dirt floor of the room as he sat silently on the metal table. He waited for Slade to say something to him. He could do nothing but that.

"Let me introduce you to my new helper, Robin," Slade finally said. Robin glanced up at him and then looked to the girl in the shadows of the room. "Her name is Jessica Hunter. With her powers I can do whatever I wish with you. But I'm sure I will need more than just her powers." He nodded to one of his robots while saying, "Bring her in."

Robin watched with silent dread as a young girl was dragged into the room. She was only a kid! Her long brown hair whipped around as she struggled to get free from the strong grasp of the robot. A gag was preventing her from saying anything, but her screams could still be heard. Her wrists were bound together by a thick rope, and Robin could see that they were so tight it was making her bleed.

His heart started to beat faster when the poor girl was shoved into Slade's arms. Robin could see the fear in her bright, green eyes. She still had some fight in her as she tried to kick the mad man. She stopped when she started to glow blue to indicate that the Jessica girl was using her powers on her.

"Don't hurt her!" Robin said quickly. He knew that there was a chance that the girl was really working for Slade and he was just being tricked once again. But he followed his gut feeling that this girl was for real. He had already figured out (or should I say guessed) that Slade had gotten someone to play as Robin and that was why his friends were not looking for him. This girl could easily be blackmail for the poser dude in his place.

"I wont if you do exactly what I say, Robin," Slade said while walking up to the boy. He pulled the girl with him and she made little protest now. She kept shaking her head at Robin as if to tell him to not give into Slade. He so badly wanted to do what she was telling him, but he really had no choice.

"Fine," Robin said after a long silence. It pained him to say that one word because that meant he was defeated. He could imagine Slade smiling in triumph under his mask at his victory.

"We are leaving," Slade said while grabbing Robin's shoulder and shoving him to the door. Robin lost his balance but quickly gained it back before he slammed into the wall. "Hurry. The plane takes off in six hours. It will take us at least five to get there," Slade said while walking to the exit with the girl beside him with a puzzled look in her wide eyes. Robin was just as confused.

"What is going on?" he asked as he was pushed roughly up the stairs by Jessica. He shot her a nasty look but kept right behind Slade. "No evil plot to take over Jump City? This is too out of character for you, Slade."

"I'm going to keep you guessing," Slade said down to him. "You better be on your toes. I'm not finished with this city or your friends yet. Once we get out of the country my plan will just be getting started."

They came out next to the warehouse and a car was there waiting for them. A robot was in the driver's seat. Jessica opened the back seat for the others. Slade made the kid go in first and he sat in the middle. Robin was pulled in by Slade when he hesitated. Jessica slammed the door shut and got into the passenger seat. The car then started and drove into the city.

There was a scary silence in the car for the first ten minutes. The car stopped when a whole bunch of people started to run away from something. Robin looked out his darkened window to see what was going on. Suddenly Mumbo ran past the car. Robin's hand grabbed the door handle.

It was then that he realized where he was. He looked over to Slade. The man was not doing anything about it. Jessica was watching him closely as always. Her eyes narrowed on him as Robin's mind spun with different options.

Suddenly there was a big bang as the car shook. They all looked ahead with surprise to see… Robin! But it really wasn't the real Robin. There really was someone posing as Robin! The real leader gave a short gasp as reality hit him. When the other one turned his head around it was stunning to see someone who looked just like him. It was like they were twins. Freaky!

The other Robin paused when he saw who was in the car he had landed on in the middle of a fight with Mumbo. As Jake would say, it was just his crappy luck doing its magic on him once again. What were the chances that he would land on the car Slade was in?

Robin saw his other self look to the girl next to Slade and saw the agony on his face. He was only there for a few seconds, but to Robin it felt like a lifetime. It looked like the other Robin did not want to be playing him as much as Robin did not want to be Slade's apprentice. When Slade narrowed his eyes at the other Robin the guy finally jumped to a different car. The other Titans were rushing past them without noticing that the real Robin was in one of these cars.

The girl next to Slade suddenly freaked. She thrashed around in her binds while screaming loudly into her gag. Jessica had to use her powers on her to calm the girl down. Robin used this to his own advantage. He grabbed the door handle and flung the door open for a quick escape. Jessica was too busy to stop him.

"Robin!" Slade yelled with anger slipping into his voice. Robin tried to jump out of the car as quickly as possible with panic on his face. Slade grabbed his ankle at the last second and yanked the teen back into the car with no pity in his attack.

The back of Robin's head slammed into the side door on the girl's side and he gave a wince. Stars danced across his vision. He looked up to see the girl looking at him with those wide eyes with tears in them. He felt awful for almost taking off without this poor kid. How could he be so selfish? He would never go anywhere without her for now on. Her small life would come first.

"That was a bad move on your part, Robin," Slade said. The anger was still in his voice. He grabbed Robin by the front of his shirt and pulled him up so the two were face to face. Robin struggled in the strong grip. "Don't try any stunt like that again. Understand?"

Robin did not answer and only gave Slade a frown just to tick the guy off. Sometimes he could be so stubborn! This always seemed to make Slade angry. It was the only way Robin could fight back at the moment.

His reward for being his stubborn self, Robin got a knee slammed into his stomach. The air was knocked out of him and a knot of pain formed in the pit of his stomach. There were a few seconds when he could not breathe at all and shock of the attack made him numb. He then gasped for precious air through winces.

Slade pulled Robin up by his hair then shoved him into his seat as the car started to move again. The teen took in small gasps for breath as he gained his senses. The girl watched Robin with sadness in her eyes. She was curled up in her seat in a useless attempt to get away from Slade.

"I asked you if you understood my command, Robin," Slade said while seating himself between the two captives. "As my apprentice you have to answer right away. Do you understand?"

"I'm not your stupid apprentice," Robin said weakly. He gave Slade a dirty glare as he got ready for another attack. This time he would fight back.

Slade grabbed Robin's wrist and pulled the boy over to him for another punishment greater than the last. "Lesion one, understanding that you're mine," Slade whispered to him. Robin gave a small battle cry as he brought his leg up. He would have gotten Slade if he hadn't forgotten about Jessica. To his dismay, his leg froze at the last second. He could not fight back!

To Robin's surprise, the girl being held captive attacked for him. She slammed her heel into Slade's back with a small battle yell. This made Slade and Robin knock into the side window. She was pretty strong for a girl her age.

"I can't hold both of them down for the whole car trip!" Jessica yelled as she stuck her palm out at the girl to hold her back. Robin's back was on the floor of the car with Slade pinning him there. He shoved his foot into the man's chest to get free. He was still weak and was not strong enough to get Slade off him. He was stuck with nowhere to go at this point.

"Can't you knock one of them out?" Jessica asked Slade. She narrowed her eyes at the captive girl because the girl had a strong mind and was harder to control. "She is a hard one just like Robin." Both girls were glowing a vibrant blue that was getting brighter. This was getting difficult.

"Good idea," Slade said as he reached into his belt for something.

"Don't touch her!" Robin yelled as he tried to prevent Slade from doing anything to the poor girl. He would blame himself if anything serious happened to her. It was his job as a superhero to protect her. He had to be willing to give up his own life to protect the innocent. It was his oath.

"It's not her I'm going to knock out," Slade said. He quickly took out a cloth from his belt and shoved it up against Robin's nose and mouth. Robin smelt the chloroform and held his breath. Slade pressed down on Robin's stomach and this made Robin gasp a little. He made a little moan while struggling under the mad man's grasp. His vision clouded as his body started to slip away. He was quickly out cold.

Slade lifted Robin's body up into his seat and it only looked like the teen was asleep. The captive girl settled down and relaxed in Jessica's powers. Jessica finally stopped using her powers on the girl when she felt like it was safe. She slid down in her seat to try and get some rest. She had been watching Robin nonstop for the whole day and night. She needed sleep.

The trip in the car took around five hours with no restroom breaks. Jessica slept the whole time. Robin was out like a light through the whole car trip. The captive girl slept off and on. Most of the time she stared out of the window with a sad and worried expression on her face. She was leaving Jump City and her brother. This could not be good. If she died her brother would never know.

Slade stayed awake the whole trip. He played his plan out a few times in his head. Sooner than later the Titans would discover Jake. By that time Robin would be long gone. He would not be the Robin they used to know. He would be a killer and loving it. In only the matter of weeks Robin would be standing by his side with a smile on his face.

A/N: Here is a good cliffhanger for you people. I need to read and give reviews to fan fictions I have not been able to read for two weeks. And I also want to read more in my Full Metal Alchemist book. Very cool show and books! But if you want detail about trip just e-mail me. But please give a review. Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6 Blood Bath

A/N: It seems that everyone hates Jessica already. It was what I was hoping for. You will hate her more later on. Sorry it took me forever to update. The Internet broke down for a few days and my monitor broke and I had to borrow my little sisters. She is not too happy about it, but at least I'm getting to update. So here is your chapter! It took me a long time to get the idea right, so please give a review. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Um…don't own them. What else is there to say?

Chapter 6 Blood Bath

It was the end of a beautiful day and Starfire could not wait to watch the sun set. She often did that when her team did not have to fight anyone. She did it when she lived on her home planet as well. The young girl flew quickly to the roof of the Tower with a pleasant smile on her face. When she got there, she was surprised to see Robin on the ledge with his back to her. He did not seem to notice her presence because he did not budge from his curled up position.

"Robin?" Starfire asked him quietly while flying up to him slowly. "Do you have the sickness what earth calls 'depressed'? The one that Raven seems to have a lot?"

"Starfire?" Robin said with surprise as he jumped. He gave a small sniff while getting up. "I was just up here thinking." It seemed as if he was hiding something from her. Maybe even crying. But what was the matter?

"Are you sure?" Starfire asked him with worry in her voice. Lately he was acting a bit differently. She wondered what was going on through his head.

"I'm fine," Jake lied quickly to her. "Why do you ask?"

"You stay away from all of us," Starfire said. "You do not team up with us when we do battle. And you…hesitate."

This girl was amazing. No wonder Robin had feelings for her. The girl's beauty outmatched most and even though she seemed oblivious, she still noticed things. She had noticed that Robin was somehow not himself by very small details.

For a few seconds Jake actually thought about poring out his heart to her and telling her everything he knew. He wanted to tell her every detail about what he was going through. It would be so easy. Then how come he could not bring himself to spill a single word? Valentine's life was too important.

"I got to get back to work," Jake finally said as he brushed past her. Starfire watched him go silently. She was so worried about him. They were drifting apart lately and she did not know why. But he had to take care of himself unless he asked for help. She would then help him with all her might. But until then, all she could do was watch and wait. It pained her to do so.

- Robin -

He woke up slowly. The best thing to do was to be still with your eyes closed till the dizziness wore off and your senses return. He finally opened up his eyes and shifted in his seat with a quiet moan. His head was leaning against the side window of the car. He saw a small abandoned airstrip on the side of the rocky road. Things weren't making sense. Where was he?

The past then hit him and he turned his head around to see Slade and the rest there with him. Slade was looking ahead and did not seem to notice that Robin was awake. Before the teen could pretend to still be knocked out, Jessica popped her head up from the front seat.

"He's awake!" she said with a sweet smile coming to her lips.

"Don't make me hurt you," Robin muttered under his breath. He rubbed his forehead as he forced his body to wake up.

"I would like to see you try, bird boy," Jessica snapped back with that smile widening.

"Haven't heard that nickname before," Robin said sarcastically to her. "You're very creative." He gave Jessica a small smile when he saw her frown deeply at him. His smile only made her madder. She attacked without any warning at all. She thrust her hand out at him, and an invisible force slammed Robin into his seat. The force started to choke him.

"I don't like to be talked back to," she seethed at him.

"Can you say anger problem?" Robin asked her with that same smug smile coming to his lips.

"Release him," Slade said to Jessica with a wave of his hand. She did not listen for a few seconds. Her eyes burned that vibrant blue color as she kept staring at Robin. She _wanted_ to kill him! Slade glared at her dangerously and said sternly, "Release him, Jessica."

"Stupid human," Jessica muttered as her eyes returned to normal suddenly. Robin gasped for air. He was being strangled a lot lately. He managed to keep that cocky smile on his lips as he rubbed his sore neck. He was pushing his luck with this girl, but he was starting to understand her powers. He knew that once he was strong enough and understood her power he could over throw her. It would just take a lot of time.

The car stopped at the abandoned airport. A rusty gate opened up and the car entered slowly. The runway was just a dusty road in the middle of nowhere. Tall green grass grew all around the place and made interesting patterns as the strong wind flew over all the different beads. One single jet was on the runway and looked very much out of place. It was new and gleaming in the sunlight. A handful of men were preparing it just for Slade.

The car stopped again. Jessica shot Robin a dirty look over her shoulder before she got out of the car. Robin stiffened when Slade took out a knife from his belt. Before Robin could react, the man cut the captive girl's binds and peeled off her gag.

"These people don't know who we are and do not know anything about this situation," Slade said to Robin and the girl. "Do everything I tell you to and she will survive. Understand, Robin?" He asked this while putting the edge of the blade against the girl's side.

"Yes," Robin answered quickly. No more chances when this girl's life was on the line.

"Out," Slade commanded to Robin with a small nod. Robin opened his door and stepped out into the hot afternoon air. The wind whipped into his face. The feeling could be relaxing, but at this point Robin would never be able to relax.

Slade was right behind him with the girl. He still had the knife at her side, but you would have to look closely to see it. They walked up towards the black jet slowly. The girl was in front with Slade right behind her with one hand on her shoulder. Robin was next to the man with Jessica on his other side. Each step he took made him ache to run a hundred more the opposite way. Getting on this jet meant leaving the USA. He would also be leaving the Titans for good. A pit formed in his stomach.

A man met with them when they got close to the jet. He was middle aged with a warm smile. "I thought you would get here earlier," the man said while going to shake Slade's hand. Slade pulled out a bag and threw it into the man's hand instead of giving him a warm welcome.

"I want to take off right away," Slade said to the man. "That is the money for you to keep your mouth shut about this. I don't want the public to know anything."

"Fine with me," the man said. He glanced to Robin and it seemed as if he recognized him. Robin hoped he didn't. It would only make things complicated. He just gave the man a forced smile. "Do I know you, boy?" he asked Robin when the four started to walk towards the jet.

"No," Robin said quickly over his shoulder.

"I've seen you before, though," the man persisted. Slade stopped and Robin pretended to bump into him. While he bumped into Slade he grabbed some smoke bombs from the man's belt before turning around to face the other guy claiming to know him.

"I've never seen you before, sir," Robin said. _Don't guess it!_ He thought pleadingly to the guy. _Don't mess this up!_ He could feel Slade's one good eye boring down into him to make sure he did not say or do anything stupid. Robin looked up to Slade as if to say, "This isn't my fault."

"You're Robin from the Teen Titans!" the guy said with a smile for finally remembering Robin. He was in the middle of a sentence when Robin flung the balls to the ground. The people were quickly swallowed up into a great tangle of thick dust. Everyone started to cough and confusion was everywhere. Screams were heard left and right, but Robin stayed calm and silent.

He grabbed the captive girl and yanked her out of the dust cloud as quickly as possible. She was coughing uncontrollably, but faithfully ran next to Robin as they sprinted to somewhere unknown to her. Robin looked over his shoulder to see that the smoke was fading. They ran out into the field of tall grass and Robin made the girl drop to the ground. He dropped next to her and the two waited quietly on their stomachs.

Slade was madder than a hornet at the moment he could not feel Valentine beside him. But he kept that emotion to himself. He knew Robin and the girl was gone by now. They had to be hiding in the tall grass. It was a good escape plan. He gave credit to the boy for that, but it was a stupid plan if he ever got caught. And Slade would catch him. It would be a close one, though.

The man waited in the confusion till he could feel Jessica in front of him. He grabbed her arm and heard a small gasp as she tried to get free. He pulled the girl over to him and whispered into her ear, "Kill them all." He smiled when there was no protest from her. She was perfect. After the order, Slade walked out of the cloud of smoke and scanned carefully the landscape in search for his prize.

"Quiet, now," Robin whispered to the girl next to him. His heart was beating fast and sweat dripped down his forehead from the heat of the situation. He tried not to think of what would happen to this girl or even him for that matter if he ever got caught.

Robin stole a glance over to the smoke and saw Slade looking around. He swore about a hundred times in his head when Slade spotted him. It was not that hard. His hair was raven black and he was trying his best to hide in a field with green and yellow grass. He could push his luck for so long.

"Run!" Robin urged the girl while picking her up. He saw Slade start to run after him and pushed her forward with a look of panic on his face.

"Where?" Valentine asked him with her voice shaking a bit from fright. They both started to run for their lives. Robin made sure the girl stayed in front of him.

"The forest," Robin shouted to her. He pointed to the thick forest up ahead. They were gasping for breath as they kept sprinting toward the destination. Slade was catching up with them and they did not want to get caught. "Almost there!" Robin said as he pushed Valentine ahead. "Keep going!"

Robin looked behind him and almost jumped when he saw that Slade was so close to them. They were not going to make it! Robin bit his lower lip as his head swam with different options. There was only one.

"Keep going no matter what happens!" Robin said to Valentine. "Don't look back."

"I won't," Valentine said as she gave Robin a nod. She pushed harder as Robin slowed down a bit. He saw the girl reach the forest and did not stop. She was safe for now. He wasn't safe at all. He had just put himself into the devil's hands.

Slade grabbed Robin's shoulder and pulled the teen backwards. Robin gave a sharp cry of surprise while falling back and onto his butt. He tried to get to his feet to fight Slade, but the man was too fast. A tight fist collided with his chin and his head was thrown back. He had bitten his tongue, and now his mouth was filled with pain and the taste of blood.

Slade loomed up next to Robin with that one eye narrowed dangerously at him. Robin forced himself to his feet and spat out the blood in his mouth. He ducked from a roundhouse kick aimed for his head. He rolled to the side and threw caution into the wind as he came at Slade. His anger was taking control of his attacks once again, and that had never been a good thing.

Robin's attack was easily turned into his own downfall. Slade grabbed the teen's fist that was coming at him and bent it back. There was a sickening snap followed by a cry of pain from Robin. Slade, still holding onto Robin's fist, turned the boy around and kicked his back while letting go of the fist. Robin stumbled forward with a wince. He had no time to gain his balance because Slade came at him with no hesitation. A sharp kick to the side finally made Robin fall to the ground too weak to fight back now.

With some small amount of strength left in his body, Robin got to his hands and knees while panting through winces. His wrist was giving him lots of grief and his side was burning with pain. He just thanked God that none of his ribs were broken.

Slade kneeled down in front of Robin and lifted the teen's chin up. Robin spat out some more blood before giving Slade an angry glare. "You might think that you won already, Robin," Slade said coldly to his young apprentice. "You might think that you did a very brave thing here." He then whispered into Robin's ear menacingly, "You're dead wrong."

Robin's eyes went wide with horror. Valentine could easily get lost in the forest. Slade would find her, no doubt about that. What had he done? "Don't touch her!" he screamed at Slade. "She is not in this!"

"She now is because of you, Robin," Slade said with a smile under his mask. He loved to see Robin so desperate and weak like this. "She could not be too far in that forest. When I find her, I will make you watch her suffer because of your foolish act."

Robin lunged at Slade with anger flowing through his body. He was suddenly stopped by an unknown force. It was Jessica. She was done with her task. She grabbed Robin's shoulder and forced him toward the jet while Slade went the opposite way to find Valentine.

"You can't do this!" Robin yelled at Slade as the two parted. Jessica shoved him with a small growl of disgust. Robin glared at her as he kept walking. Boy, was she starting to get on his nerves! She always seemed to come in at the worst times.

The two came up to the runway and Robin froze at the horrible sight. They were all dead. If you could say 'they'. No whole bodies were present. Only bits and pieces of bloody parts were strewn all over the ground. Pools of blood covered the dirt runway. It was as if these poor innocent people were blown apart from the inside. The sight was gruesome and a complete nightmare. Who could do this to a person?

"Keep moving," Jessica ordered Robin with another rough shove. Robin looked to Jessica as reality set in. His eyes were wide with horror and he was suddenly scared. She had done this somehow. It had only taken a few minutes for her to finish her killing spree.

That knot of fear he rarely ever got started to form in his stomach. She could do this to him easily! His breathing started to escalate quickly as he walked through bloody deaths of so many lives. He had done this. He did not think about these people when he tried to escape. Because of one mistake in his thinking he had this result. A blood bath!

* * *

"We're here," Slade said as he pointed to the small window in the jet. Robin nodded while he silently stared out of his own window. He was facing Slade with Jessica beside him and Valentine beside Slade and facing Jessica.

Robin glanced to Valentine's bloody body as she tried to sleep in her seat. Slade had beaten her up when he caught her in the forest. It had taken him an hour to find her. It had taken him five minutes to make her go through so much pain. Robin had to watch the whole thing. Those were some of the worst minutes in his whole life. The painful memory would always be there too. It would mock him of his big mistake for the rest of his life.

Valentine had a bloody lip and a black eye. A scar went down her left cheek. She had a lot more scars and bruises all over the rest of her body that was now wrapped up in blanket. She was curled up in her seat while sleeping through her nightmare. She was strong for a girl her age.

Slade got up to turn off the auto pilot and land the jet. Robin had no idea where they were. All he knew was that he was not going to see his friends in a very long time. Wherever he was now there were no allies and he would have to fight for his life. He vowed silently that he would not change under the pressure of Slade's demands. He would never change his view on life and his strong spirit would not be crushed. He would make it through this even if he had to go through hell.

When they got out of the jet another car was waiting for them. A young man was leaning against the door with his hands folded in front of him. He had dirty blonde hair and a sharp face. He greeted them with a cocky smile and a mischievous gleam in his deep gray eyes eyes.

"You guys are late," he said when they got to the car. "I bet you had to say goodbye to family."

"Funny," Slade said coldly to the man. He hated cocky people. He went from Jake to this man. "What is your name?"

There was a slight hesitation before the man answered. "James Hess," he said with a two finger salute. "Don't worry, Slade, I know what I'm doing. I'm not a high commander for nothing. So don't wet your pants." As he said this he patted Slade on the shoulder. He was bold! Slade was starting to hate him with a passion.

"Just get us there," Slade said while narrowing his eye at James. The guy nodded with another smile that was so addictive. He opened the car door while bowing. He frowned slightly when seeing Valentine get in first. Slade got in second.

"Why the long face, kid?" James asked Robin as the teen started to get in. "You're going to the best school this world has to offer and you look like you just got rained on in an amusement park. Brighten up!"

Robin did not know how to react. James was a likable person. He managed to give the guy a small smile then got into the car. James opened up Jessica's door and said, "For the princess."

"Put a sock in it," Jessica muttered as she got in. James slammed the door in her face with a frown on his face. He grumbled a few nasty sentences about the rude girl as he walked to his side. He got in with a fake smile and started the car. They went a long time on a dirt road till they got close to their destination. Venice, Italy.

"You guys are way too loud," James said over his shoulder. "Calm it down back there."

"Why did they choose you to pick us up?" Slade asked James. Robin pretended to stare out his window some more as he listened closely to the conversation. The landscape was really boring. And he could barely see because of the thick morning fog.

James gave a small chuckle and said, "I was the only one who was brave enough to."

"Or maybe they just wanted to get rid of your for a few hours," Jessica muttered. She was in a bad mood for some reason and this guy was driving her crazy. She thought people working for Slade were supposed to be serious and focused. James was more of a comedian than anything else. And right now he was in front a dead crowd.

"Ouch!" James said. He returned Jessica's evil glare with a wide grin that only got her madder. Robin smiled for a few seconds. This guy reminded him of Beast Boy a little. "The school loves me," James went on. "It was just in this situation no one wanted to drive out here at night and pick up a freaky guy from the US at six in the morning with the chance of someone shooting at you. I was the only one with no life and took the job."

"What school?" Robin asked him. It was his first words spoken in a long time. Such a long time that Slade was kind of surprised to hear his voice again. He looked intently at Robin but did not punish him for asking the question.

"Oh boy!" James said with a laugh. "You have lots to learn, short stuff. I can't explain right now, but you will see it soon. Can't believe Slade has never told you about the school he signed you up to."

Robin shot Slade a questioning look. The man shrugged and leaned back in his seat. Robin was about to protest, but right now was not the time. He looked out the window with a disgusted expression planted on his face. Slade had to be planning this for months!

The car stopped and they all got out to get on a small boat. Cars could not drive on the Venice streets. The motor boat was small. James had only been expecting Robin and Slade. It only had the driver's seat and another one next to it. It looked just as new as the jet and was the same color. Robin noticed the silver emblem of a dragon on the side. It had to be the symbol of the school.

Jessica jumped into the boat first. Valentine was the second to go with some hesitation. She looked like a lost kitten on the streets when it is raining, so weak and forgotten. James watched the poor girl for a few seconds as he thought to himself. He looked to Robin who was looking out into the fog in his own thoughts. He gave the kid a wink and got another small smile out of him.

"We should be there in around an hour," James said as he untied the rope on the creaking dock. "We just need to go through the city then it is cake from there on." He jumped into the boat after pushing it a little away from the dock. He pulled out some keys and started up the boat.

Suddenly a shot rang out into the misty air. A bullet bounced off the boat where Robin was leaning against. He gave a sharp cry of surprise and backed away. James looked at him with a small frown. Things were about to get nasty.

"Brace yourselves," James said as he looked back to his control panel. Valentine wrapped her arms around Robin's waist with a frightened expression on her face. Robin grabbed onto the side of the boat. Everyone was thrown backwards as the boat took off down the canal at full speed. They all looked back when they heard another boat behind them.

Sure enough, a boat was behind them in hot pursuit. And the people in it had guns. They wanted the five dead.

A/N: I wonder how many cliffhangers I can give my readers till one of them hunts me down and kills me. Do you like my new OC? Next chapter has more of Jake and the other Titans. I have to go back and forth between the two. The last two chapters were of mostly Robin because Jake had the first two chapters all to himself and I needed to level it out. But please give a review! Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7 The X Is Back

A/N: For some reason I keep getting writer's block for everything I have. So I'm sorry if stuff is coming out late. When school starts up I'll have less time to type, but I always seem to get through writer's block when I'm in a really boring class. I day dream too much. Anywho, you did not come here to hear me babble on. So here is your chapter! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own them. And I'm sure you readers don't own them too! Too bad, so sad!

Chapter 7 The X Is Back

It was a normal evening in Titans Tower. The team had just gotten back from a fight with Mumbo. It was Cyborg's turn to cook dinner, so he was busy in the kitchen making whatever to his liking. The others were starving, but they knew not to bug the half robot dude when he was cooking. They did not want a frying pan to smack them in the back of the head and waking up the next day with a headache. So the others killed some time just doing whatever.

Beast Boy was playing his video games with Raven by his side completely ignoring him with her nose in one of her new horror books. She blocked out the world around her as she kept reading. Once in a while the loud bleeping and whirling sounds of Beast Boy's game came into her ears, but it was more like back round noise than anything else.

Suddenly there was some loud yelling from the kitchen. Raven frowned and looked up from her book. Beast Boy stopped his game with his ears perking up with interest to who had gotten into Cyborg's way.

"Get out of my kitchen, man!" came Cyborg's voice. "Stop moping around here, Robin! I already told you guys to leave me alone when I cook!"

The door suddenly opened up and in came a dazed Robin. He also looked a bit scared for some reason. Beast Boy gave a small, annoying laugh at the sight. "You were the one who told us not to go in there," he said to Robin. "And you were one of the first to break that small rule."

Robin gave them a mixed look of confusion and anger. "I'll be in my room," he then muttered with a shrug. Beast Boy and Raven watched him leave. Raven felt an uneasy vibe coming from her leader. She was very eager to figure out what was going on with him. Beast Boy was the same way.

"Does he seem different to you?" the changeling asked Raven before she went back to reading.

For the briefest of moments he had caught her off guard. She turned toward him with a questioning look. "Yeah," she said after some silence. "You notice it too?"

Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal. "He has been avoiding you a lot lately," he said. "I think that is kind of strange. You two are good friends."

"Oh," Raven said quietly. She was noticing other things in Robin. Beast Boy only noticed that the two were fighting. She was kind of disappointed. But this was only Beast Boy. "We just need some space," she said. "He is just too focused on Red X and Slade. He thinks too much on the past."

"Right," Beast Boy said slyly with one of those evil grins coming to his lips. Raven looked over to him to with confusion. Beast Boy was already playing his game and blocking her out of his own little world once again. He was up to something. She just knew it! Now she had to keep tabs on two members in her team. But the only thing to do now was to read.

- Red X -

For a second night in a row, the alarm clock next to Jake's bed went off. He was up in an instant with newfound energy flowing through his body. To night was the night he would put his plan into action! He quickly got into his Red X suit that Slade had dropped off right before he left that morning. Once he slipped that mask over his head his identity changed. He was the cunning thief known as Red X. Jake White was gone.

Red X quietly snuck out of Robin's room. He had memorized the files on Robin's personal computer on how to get to that belt he so desperately needed to complete his outfit. His capture of the belt should be relatively easy for the great thief. But if he had one small misstep his plan could come crashing down on his head.

The thief's footsteps could barely be heard as he ran down the dark hallway to the room he was seeking. He quickly found the room. There was no hesitation as he pressed the button on the wall beside the door to make it swoosh open. He jumped in quickly, expecting to be in the room of the belt. But he did was dead wrong.

X swore quietly under his breath when he looked at the small room. It was Robin's study. This was no normal study, though. The obsessive teen had newspaper articles hanging all over the room. Most of them were about Slade. A small wooden table was in the middle with a few broken gadgets scattered on it. Pens and paper were strewn around the table as well. A lot of notes about him were there.

After a quick glance Red X knew that the superhero had come pretty close to knowing him. But he would never be able to figure out his true identity with only this information. Pride began to swell up in Red X's chest as that sly smile came to his lips under the mask. Only the few quick and smart people in this world could get past this kid. Red X was one of those few.

"Stumped you, kid," X whispered as he looked around the room once again. He then frowned when he thought back to the situation. Robin never mentioned anything about this room in his computer files. Red X should have known that the kid would not give away so much information in one computer file. But this was a waste of time! He had things to do!

Red X gave a sigh as he tried to find some entrance to another room that could hold the belt. He tried the walls and stuff on the table, but nothing would trigger to open another door. He started to pass the room in thought of what to do next. Slade expected him to do something that night. What was he going to do?

As if from above, the tile Red X stepped on descend into the floor a little and a part of a wall vanished into the wall to create a small door. Red X smiled to himself at his luck and quickly ran into the room. He knew exactly what to do next.

The room was the size of three bedrooms put together. All he had to do was get past this long room to the other side and the belt was as good as his. But Robin had taken out the simple lasers and replaced the old security with one of his own.

By reading the computer files, X knew that touching any of the walls his plan would fail because the alarm would go off. It would wake up the whole Tower and a certain Robin would not be able to show up in time. The floor was just one long acid tank, so there was no walking to the other side. The only way to get from point A to point B was by jumping to the metal platform floating in the acid river. The platforms were made out of some metal that was not affected by acid and so were the walls.

The one big problem here was that all those small platforms were moving around in the acid. Red X observed the room as his mind turned over what to do. He took off his long cape that would just get in the way. He also pulled off his shoes because they were padded and did not have the best grip. They were designed for landing after big jumps and for not making sounds in the night. But bare skin would work the best right now.

"Here I go," X whispered to himself after a deep breath.

With his mind only focused on the task ahead, the teen jumped into the air and landed on the first moving platform with perfect balance in his move. But much to his dismay, the round platform started to sink under his weight.

"Crap!" X hissed as he quickly looked ahead with panic to see where to jump next. This place was just full of surprises! He took to the air once again and landed on the next platform. He lost balance because of his hasty jump. He tipped forward while propelling his arms to regain his balance. His nose was inches away from the wall. He winced as he prepared to hear the alarm blast into his ears.

Nothing happened. He thanked his lucky stars as he quickly jumped to the next platform. He got over the new surprise as his mind quickly planned out his next move. Sweat dripped down his back as the situation got worse. He could not hesitate with this new thing with the sinking platforms.

Red X then went into action. He sprung off the platform and high into the air. He landed hard on the next one and he had to step backwards to another platform to avoid getting his bare feet burned off. He winced under the mask at how close he had been. He looked ahead and jumped to the next platform with much grace.

After only a few minutes of jumping around like a monkey and almost getting burned to death, Red X made it across with only a few hot burns on the balls of his feet. He heaved a big sigh of relief and walked into the next room ready to steal his belt.

- Beast Boy -

The changeling heard Robin's door swoosh open only by his animal ears that could pick up the slightest of things. It was times like these that he was glad he had this kind of hearing. He could faintly hear Robin's feet run past his door quickly. Boy, was the teen quiet! Beast Boy almost could not hear him.

Beast Boy sneaked over to Robin's room and opened the door with one of his evil smiles spreading over his face. He tip-toed into the room and looked around it with wide eyes of amazement. The room was not perfectly clean!

Papers were scattered around the room and so were clothes. The bed was not made and one of Robin's outfits was strewn all over the sheets. Beast Boy sniffed the air as if something like a smell could tell him what was going on with the leader of the Titans. At first he thought it had to do something with Raven and their small shunning fight that was going on all day in the Tower. But the green teen had narrowed it down to just Robin. He was the one that was acting strange. Raven was the one who was normal for once.

Beast Boy had gone into his leader's room just to see if he could get some clue that he was right for once and that Robin was acting weird. Much to his surprise, he was totally right! Robin and a messy room would never go together. Okay, so the room was not really a mess, but the Robin Beast Boy knew would never leave clothes around on the floor and not make his bed.

"Boy Wonder is defiantly acting differently," Beast Boy muttered to himself. "But the question is…why." The changeling expressed a small smile because he could not help but quote the guy. But right now quoting Robin made him realize that it really was the perfect question. Why was Robin acting this way? It was not evil. It was just small details that really weren't a big problem.

After a few minutes of doing absolutely nothing but muddle around the room in search of a clue, Beast Boy sensitive years picked up Robin's quick footsteps heading for the room. Beast Boy freaked and had no idea what to do. If Robin saw him searching his room then he would be considered dead. He did the only thing his mind could come up with. He hid. The closet wasn't the best of places, but this way he could see through the small crack he made with the sliding mirror.

Things got confusing fast. Instead of Robin coming into the room it was Red X! The changeling could not believe his very own eyes as Red X pulled off his mask. Lo and behold, it was Robin! Beast Boy put a hand over his mouth to keep himself from making any sound. What was Robin doing as Red X again? It got worse.

Robin held the Red X belt in his hand with a sly smile on his face. "Easy," he muttered to himself. He then gave a short laugh and added, "If you forget the pit of acid eating away at your feet." He then gave a heavy sigh of deep relief.

Beast Boy kept his hand on his mouth as he watched all this with disbelief. He just could not believe his own two eyes as he watched the scene unfold before him. Millions of different questions flew through his head. He tried hard to sort it all out and put his head together, but then he saw Robin, or who he thought was Robin, take out a black communicator.

"Slade," Robin said after pressing a few buttons. He gave the man on the other end a light smile that seemed forced. "I stole the real Red X belt. It should be easy for me to keep fooling the Titans with this thing." He held up the stolen belt to prove his point.

"Good," came Slade's calm voice from the other end. Beast Boy's stomach did a small flip as he bit onto his tongue that so desperately wanted to make a sound to bring all this to an end. "But don't get too cocky, Jake. Robin already made that mistake."

Beast Boy tilted his head to the side in confusion. Who was Slade talking to? Robin was right here! Why did he just call him Jake? Was there a chance that this person was not Robin? That bit of hope made Beast Boy calm down a little. His curiosity had been perked.

Jake's face turned ghostly pale as that small smile faded into a frown of dread. "W-what happened?" he asked Slade with some hesitation. Jake's mood then changed into rage as he whispered harshly at Slade, "You had better not hurt her, damn it! Or you're days are going to be numbered! You hear me, Slade? I swear…"

"Quiet," Slade cut him off sharply. Jake held back his anger for a few seconds, but from where Beast Boy stood he could see that the teen was having trouble with it. Jake glared at the communicator with pure hatred in those masked eyes.

"She's fine," Slade said when he thought that Jake had finally calmed down a bit. "Just a few bruises." Jake opened his mouth to shout a curse, but Slade cut him off again. "Control yourself, Jake," he said calmly. "Robin just tried to escape and I needed to teach him a lesson. Your sister was my example."

Jake's face was filled with anguish. He said nothing. After a few silent seconds he shook his head to Slade and asked, "What do you need me to do next?"

- Robin -

"Duck!" James yelled to the group as the boat sped up. Everyone obeyed with no hesitation. Right afterwards they could hear the shooting and bullets ricocheted off the boat. Valentine gave a small yell of fright as she clung onto Robin's arm.

James turned sharply and everyone in the boat was thrown off balance to the sudden move. Robin and Valentine slammed into Slade and Jessica with small yells of surprise. Water was sprayed onto the street and soaked some of the people. The boat sped off from the people cursing them for their rudeness just to be sprayed again by the following boat in hot pursuit.

"We're going to have to split," James called out to the passengers in the boat. "It is easy for them to follow us on the water. So when I stop, everyone separate. We will get back together at the bridge over the Canal Grande close to the Ponte di Rialto." He was returned by quick nods of understanding.

James slammed on the brakes and then grabbed someone's shoulder to yank him toward the side he was jumping out of. Slade grabbed onto Valentine's shoulder because he knew Robin would never leave if Valentine was not with him. Jessica went with Slade because she was on the same side of the boat he was on.

Robin jumped off the left side of the boat with James right by his side. He kept low to the ground to avoid getting shot from the men firing at him from their boat. James pushed Robin ahead while taking out a pistol that was hidden behind him. Robin paused and realized that it was only him and James. Slade, Jessica, and Valentine went the other way and had already disappeared.

"Just go, kid!" James yelled at him while taking aim. "I'll catch up with you later."

Robin hesitated but finally took off in a sprint. He was thoroughly confused on what was happening. Why were those men shooting at them? He had others along the same lines, but he had to force them away as he ran down the street. He quickly got lost because only someone who lived and explored the place most of their life could know the streets like the back of their hand.

The teen slowed down as he realized that he had no idea where he was going or where he had come from. He finally came to a stop and put his hands on his knees as he panted. Two old, Italian women walked by him. They both gave the teen some odd looks while gossiping in quick Italian. He gave them a weak smile and a wave. They gave him more strange looks and quickly walked past him.

Robin now saw that he was alone and free. When he thought differently he realized that Valentine was still with Slade. He cursed the man under his breath as he started to walk. Slade knew that if he had Valentine by his side Robin would never be able to bring himself to run away.

A hand suddenly grabbed Robin and pulled him into a dark alleyway. Robin tried to break free from the strong grasp on his shoulders as his back was shoved against the brick wall. He looked up and saw that it was only James.

"Not the greatest time to escape, kid," James said with wide grin. "The fun has hardly begun."

"What?" Robin asked the man.

"I didn't say anything," James said. His grin widened and he winked at the teen. Robin was a bit confused. Who was this guy? Did he know that Robin did not want to be there? This man was a complete mystery to the teen.

"We have to keep moving," James said in a loud whisper. "I want to beat Slade to the bridge." He started to walk down the alleyway in a jog. Robin followed right behind him after some hesitation.

"This isn't a game," Robin whispered back to James. "Those guys were shooting at us. They wanted us dead! I want to know why."

James smiled down at Robin and asked him, "Why are you whispering?"

Robin gave James a strange look and said, "You whispered first."

"You don't always have to do things my way," James said. "I'm just as clueless as you. No one can memorize these streets. The maps are always changing. Those men who were shooting at us have to be as lost as us by now. We don't have to worry about them anymore. I just want to get to the bridge before Slade. What do you think, kid?"

"W-what?" was the only thing Robin could get out at first. "I don't think that you're taking this serious enough. What if more of those guys are out there waiting to shoot at us? We need to be more careful!"

"You're a serious one," James said. He stopped and folded his arms in front of him and stared down at Robin with wonder in his eyes. "Then how 'bout we run?"

Robin stared up at James with puzzlement on his face. He seriously did not know how to react. "You're crazy!" Robin finally yelled at James.

James then cracked up and said through laughs, "You should have seen your face just then, kid!" Robin stood there with a look of uncertainty on his face. He had no idea what to do. He was not used to being in this kind of situation. Batman never taught him what to do when he bumped into a crazy guy like this.

The man calmed down when he saw that Robin was not catching on to his strange behavior. "Sorry, kid," he said with his voice more serious. "I'm just joking with you. I do it a lot with my own kids. I'm so used to doing it around someone your age that I didn't stop to realize that some teens have thicker heads than some."

"You have kids?" Robin asked him while brushing the man's last sentence away. James was acting like that on purpose. It made Robin feel a bit better. But the man was still weird.

"Okay," James said quickly with a forced smile. "Too much information shared. Did I say kids? I meant…cats. Yeah! Cats!"

Robin laughed at James as they both started to walk down the alleyway. The sun was making all of the mist on the street fade away. The air was starting to warm up a little. A light breeze flew by the two, and Robin gave a small sigh. He did not mind being with James. He was strange as hell, but entertaining.

"How far away is the bridge from here?" Robin asked James. "If I'm too late Slade isn't going to be very happy."

James laughed a little and said, "That guy is never happy. He creeps me out. And I've only been with him for less than an hour. How sad is that? But if we run we might make it there before him and his evil little sidekick."

"You mean Jessica?" Robin asked him with a faint smile at James' new nickname for her. "She has anger problems. Just to warn you, she can control your body."

"Jessica Hunter?" James asked Robin.

"Yeah," Robin answered. "Do you know her?"

"Who?" James asked with confusion.

"Jessica Hunter," Robin answered.

"Who's she?" James asked.

"Never mind," Robin said while rolling his eyes in frustration. "Can we just get to the bridge?"

"Follow me," James said. "Try to keep up." He took off down the road in a sprint. Robin ran quickly after him with a look of worry coming over his face. Did James know where he was going? He thought for sure they would get lost.

The two zigzagged down the street at break neck speed. Sometimes they were going so fast that they almost slammed into a wall when turning sharply. They had to jump over baskets and such along the way. Robin was almost enjoying himself. When early tourists came out, the game went into a different direction.

"Keep your eye on me, kid," James said to Robin right before they flung themselves into a crowd of American tourists that were just starting out their day. Maps were out and the kids were entertaining themselves by throwing small pebbles into the canal.

The two ran into the crowd at full force. Robin had to quickly put on his brakes when he realized that these people were not going to notice him as a Teen Titan and move out of his way like the people of Jump City would. He skidded to a stop with a short yell of alarm. He jumped to the side while still keeping a sharp eye on James just ahead of him making his own way through the crowd.

Robin clenched his teeth as he kept pushing ahead through the throng of people. He muttered sorry or excuse me to the stubborn people who would not move out of his way and he had to shove into them. He heard James laugh at him when Robin slammed into an old lady and she whacked him on the head with her purse a few times. He had quickly jumped out of the way to avoid getting hurt again.

"Jeez, lady!" Robin yelled at her. "What do you keep in there?" He rubbed his sore head as him and James ran out of the crowd. James laughed at him again but stopped when Robin gave him a dirty glare. The two picked up speed and started to run for a fondamenta or a paved walkway beside a canal.

"Aren't we going to turn?" Robin asked James. They were not stopping and the edge of the canal was coming up fast. If they did not turn soon or stop they were going to end up with the fishes.

"Nope!" James said cheerfully. "Just keep going, kid. Trust me!"

Before Robin knew it, a big tour boat had pulled up close to the edge of the canal. The teen quickly saw James' plan. They were going to jump onto the boat. Robin calculated it all out in his head and smiled when he realized they were going to make it. This guy was smart.

"Here we go!" James said yelled as they came up to the edge. Robin was right behind him. They both pushed off the edge and soared high into the air. The people on the boat gasped as two guys came flying out of nowhere onto their boat. James landed perfectly, but Robin had to do a roll before stopping.

"That was…exciting," Robin said to James as the two stood up. He looked ahead and saw the bridge. "And there it is!" he said while pointing.

"Sorry people," James quickly addressed the crowd that was wondering why the two were there. "We are not staying very long. We are making our own stop." As he said this, he and Robin climbed up onto the railing. "_Arrivederci_!" he said with a bow.

Robin and James then jumped up and grabbed the railing of the bridge. Robin easily got onto the bridge because of his acrobat skills. James had a more difficult time, but he finally got onto the bridge. They both stood there smiling and panting at their success of beating Slade to the spot.

Robin was the first to crack up. For only a few seconds he had been having fun even though he was in the hands of Slade. He had felt free and alive. But those feelings came crashing down when he spotted Slade walking calmly up to the bridge with Valentine and Jessica at his side.

Slade stayed quiet as he saw that James and Robin were both panting and were out of breath. Sweat dripped down both of their flushed faces. He silently wondered how the two had beaten him there. But the most important question was why Robin had been laughing before he had gotten there. It was a rare thing to make the teen laugh like that.

"_Avanti_!" James said to the group. "We are almost there."

A/N: I hope the chapter was long enough. School starts on the 7th so I wanted to get this chapter out before then. The ending was more for you guys to get to know James' character. I'm aiming for him to be kind of a mystery to you guys. But I'm going to have a glossary of Italian words I might use in the next chapter. I've already used a few in this chapter. I only know a few words in Italian but I can't speak it. I can understand a lot because I know lots of Spanish and both languages have a Latin background. But please give a review and I'll try to update soon! Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8 Putting Trust in an Assassin

A/N: Ha! One of you readers really wants Jessica to die. I meant for my readers to hate her but not be that drastic! It just hit me funny for some reason. So here is your chapter! But first, I have a small glossary for the few Italian words I might so happen to randomly use.

Glossary

_Arrivederci_ – good-bye

_Avanti_ – let's go; forward

_Basta_ – enough; that will do

_Benissimo_ – excellent; very good

_Buongiorno_ – good morning; good afternoon (a greeting)

_Grazie_ – thank you

_Pazienza_ – patience

_Salve_ – hi; hello

_Scusi_ – excuse me

_Si_ – yes

_Va bene_ – all right; fine; okay

Chapter 8 Putting Trust in an Assassin

"_Buongiorno_, Robin!" James greeted Robin at the breakfast table happily. He sat down next to the teen with a wide grin on his face. Robin glanced over to him for a second, but then silently went back to eating his food with his face mysterious as he went into deep thought.

James had brought the whole group to the school peacefully after they met at the bridge. It was located on one of the many tiny islands surrounding the sinking city. The island had an abandoned church on it that was pretty big, but the school was hidden under it. Most of the training was in the old church or on the field outdoors.

The school was called Dragon Academy. It was something new and had only been running for five years. But the students were and had to be the best fighters to pass. They learned about handling new weapons and technology. They were taught how to fight in hand to hand combat as well. They had to be skilled in both the body and mind.

Of course, the school was for assassins. Slade wanted Robin to learn all their ways. After a few years of training, Robin was sure Slade would take him away for personal training. But Robin was coming up with a plan to change all that. But he would have to stay for a few days to figure out the system of how things worked in the school. Slade could have his way for the time being.

James studied Robin's serious face for a few seconds. The boy was staring straight ahead while eating his toast. He was avoiding the constant glare of Slade who was by the cafeteria door with his arms folded in front of him. Robin knew the man was watching him.

"So," James said slowly. As he said this, he pulled Robin's tray a little closer to himself. "How's the food, kid? Mind if I…" James was attempting to steal a piece of toast off of Robin's tray. He was quickly cut off when Robin snatched his breakfast back with a quick, "Yes."

"Let's play a game," James said. He glanced over to Robin to see if he had gotten any reaction out of the boy. Robin was glancing over to him with a quizzical look on his face. "It's called 'State the Obvious'."

"Sounds fun," Robin said sarcastically. "Let me go first. Slade is watching our every move."

"You're good at this," James said with a smile coming to his lips. "My turn. You're pissed."

"_Benissimo_," Robin muttered after taking another bite from his toast.

"I didn't know you knew Italian," James said a little surprised.

"Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me," Robin snapped back. Right now he had no time for James' comic relief and weirdness. His mind was focused on escaping from the hands of Slade with no one getting hurt. James was with the school. Becoming friends with anyone here would just be stupid.

"Ouch!" James said with a wince. "You're cold today, kid."

"Don't you have some teacher thing or stuff to do?" Robin said with a heavy sigh.

"Nope," James said. He tried another time to grab that piece of toast, but Robin was ahead of him once again. The teen just pushed his tray to the opposite side James was sitting on. There was silence as James watched Robin continue with eating his breakfast. The boy was thinking hard. He had better warn the teen before he got himself in deep trouble by trying to escape.

"You know, kid," James said while putting his arm around Robin's shoulder. He then whispered softly into his ear while still staring ahead like nothing was wrong. "Don't try anything just yet," he whispered. "You have friends in high places. You just have to wait for the right time."

James then let go and saw Robin take in the small bit of information. It was at this time that James struck. His hand whipped out like lightning and grabbed his beloved piece of toast before Robin could put his head back together.

"Hey!" Robin yelled at him with anger in his voice. "That's mine. Give it back!"

James smiled wickedly at Robin for a second then licked the bread like a little kid would to claim it as his. Robin gave up quickly on the small fight at the sight and grumbled his defeat under his breath as he glared at the man who stole his breakfast. James kept on smiling as he ate it proudly.

"I hope you are done," came a chilling voice from behind the two. Robin jumped as a hand was placed on his shoulder. They looked behind to see Slade there towering over them with that one eye watching the two with mild amusement in it.

"I am," Robin answered quickly. "Thanks to someone," he added under his breath with a dirty glare at James. The man shrugged and stood up. Robin did the same and silently picked up his tray and walked away from the men, eager to get away from the man he most hated.

James tried to smile warmly to Slade, but it was kind of hard to. "He's a good kid," James said to Slade as the two men watched the teen throw his stuff away with a melancholy look on his face. "He just needs to be cheered up."

"I agree," Slade said after some silence. James' eyes widened at these words and was about to question the man's answer, but Slade was already there. "For the few months he is going to be here I'll need someone other than myself to keep a sharp eye on him. It should be easy because he is going to the _past eraser_ tomorrow morning."

James tried to hold his emotions inside of him and played it cool. "Sure," he said with a simple shrug. "But do you really need to be this extreme? That machine can be pretty powerful if you mess with it too much. I would not want to chance it."

"Robin is strong," Slade said firmly. He had made up his mind over the matter and nothing James would say could change it. "He'll be fine."

James gave a long sigh while pondering something unknown to Slade. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and then gave a slight nod. "Fine," he said. "For some reason I'm always stuck being the babysitter."

"It's because you're good at it," Slade said. "He seems relaxed around you. I want to take the first part of my plan slow. He needs someone to confide in besides me. Jessica can't do it because she and Robin pretty much want to kill each other, plus I have something else planned for the girl. You're my only option. Just tell me everything he says."

"I can do that," James said with a nod. "Back stabbing people is my favorite thing to do in the world!"

Slade rolled his eye at the sarcastic humor, but he knew that James would do what he said. Robin walked up to them, his eyes narrowed in anger that he was trying hard to hold back. Suddenly a bell was rung and it was time to start school. Robin's heart sunk as he realized that he would have to be under Slade's control for another whole day. This was a living nightmare.

* * *

"Okay, kiddies!" James said with that wicked smile coming to his lips as he stared out over his class. "Time for some poker to see who the best marksman with a new gun is!"

The class stared at he man blankly. First of all, they weren't kids. The youngest one there was Robin who was off to the side of the group sitting on the grass. He was making an effort to stay away from all the others. Other than that, the youngest was around twenty two. Most of these young adults never caught onto their teacher's ways. In many ways they were not their ages.

"Do I have to explain EVERYTHING to you guys?" James said with a deep sigh of frustration. The class was outside on the island. A steep hill was in front of them, and it was hard to make out the small cards lined up on the top. James stood in front of them with a table that had some clipboards on it along with a black gun case with the school symbol on it.

James took out the black high-tech gun with some care. Robin bit his lower lip as he willed himself to not to just get up and run. He was outside and that meant he was close to the sea. Freedom was only a boat ride away. But he knew he could never make it, and that logic was the only thing keeping his butt glued to the grass.

"She's a beauty, ain't she?" James asked the group with a good mimic of the Crocodile Hunter. No one laughed or even smiled. James' smile dropped as saw that he was not getting anywhere with these students. Someone coughed and James sighed again. He made eye contact with Robin and saw the teen try to fake an encouraging smile.

"Wonder how to work this baby?" James asked the class. Some of the class shook his or her head yes. As they said nothing, James was aiming his deadly weapon at random objects around the outside shooting area. "It looks like a simple gun," James went on. "But if you have good eye sight and perfect aim then this thing can be extremely dangerous. Its light, but the bullets can rip through almost anything. Pretty powerful thing I have in my hands right now."

One guy in the front raised his hand. James nodded with a faint smile. "Um… when do we get to use it?" the guy asked. James' face went dark when he heard this question. He glared at the group of idiots while wondering what he was going to do with them or how to shove the information into their heads without getting himself into too much trouble. For a faint second he wished he could just shoot one of them, but the evil thought quickly vanished. He did not want to be that extreme, but that thought gave him an idea.

"You guys have no idea what this thing is yet," James said to the class. "You haven't even seen it fired. Some of you will not be able to use this gun because of your eyesight. I can't let you all use one at the same time."

"Then shoot it for us," the same guy said boldly. Exactly what James was going for.

"Fine!" James snapped back with false anger in his voice. He quickly took aim at the teen off at the side of the group. He paused for a few seconds just to be sure that he would not really hit Robin. He then pulled the trigger as he set up his next demonstration in his head.

Robin was knocked off guard. He had been half listening to James when suddenly the gun was aimed at his head. He quickly rolled to the side with a cry of alarm. Not even a second afterwards the grass he had been sitting on exploded and dirt flew into the air. Some of the more sensitive girls screamed while the others watched with wide eyes of either horror or delight. It depended on how the person was mentally.

"What was that for?" Robin yelled at James as he picked himself up. All eyes flew over to James and they were all asking the same question and waiting for an answer.

"Good reaction time, kid," James said. That wide grin spread across his face again as he said, "Come on over here. I'll let you be the first to test the gun out."

All eyes turned to Robin again, and it seemed like they were seeing him for the first time now. Questions ran through each head as they stared at the new teen. They all knew he was way too young to be there. Jealousy was sparked into a few of the young adults. The two Americans there thought that maybe they had seen him before, but they quickly threw the thought away.

Robin did not want to come up even if it was James who would be teaching him. But with the whole class staring at him and waiting for his answer, it was hard not to just sit back down and try to become invisible again. He finally gave James a weak smile and walked to the front of the class with some hesitation.

"You know how to play poker, right?" James said while handing Robin his gun.

"Um…" Robin stumbled for words. He had never been in this position before. He had never really shot a gun before except for that blaster Slade had made him steal a few years back. He had no idea what he was doing. He only knew how to use one was because of the many action movies he had watched over the years.

A few of the students snickered even though they were a little too old to behave like teens. Robin glanced behind him and saw one guy give him a smug smile as if to say Robin was a wimp. Robin's competitive spirit then took over. He sucked up his uncertainty and nodded to James. He gripped the gun tighter and took aim while putting the butt of the gun in his shoulder pocket.

Robin had good eyesight. His was a lot better than most. Only Cyborg had better eyesight than him on the team because of his mechanical eye. He squinted a little and could clearly make out the many cards on the very top of the cliff. It kind of reminded of him of one of the very many action movies he had watched with his team on rainy days. Right now he could not think of the title of the movie. (a/n: was it the movie _SWAT_ where they did this thing? I'm not sure.)

For someone who had never shot a gun before, Robin was pretty good. He only missed a card once, but only James really noticed. After six shots Robin put down the gun and breathed a sigh of satisfaction. The class all strained to see which cards he had shot.

James took out a set of binoculars. He smiled as he looked up. "Straight Flush!" he announced to the class. He looked down to Robin and gave him a wink. "You must have good eyes, kid. Next!"

As the rest of the class quickly formed into a line for their turn, another teacher ran across the field. She stopped up in front of James and gave slight bow because the teachers had different ranks. The lower ranks had to bow in front of the higher ranking teachers to demonstrate respect.

"Mr. Hess, may I speak to you?" the lady asked with her voice urgent.

"What is it, Liz?" he asked her.

She gave him a faint smile before saying, "It is Slade. He wants to see Robin. He wants to start the machine early."

James was silent. From the back of the line, Robin could see his teacher's face turn slightly pale. Something was wrong. A knot formed in his stomach as his heart started to race. He wanted to run.

"Okay," James said slowly with a nod. He then pulled himself together and looked over to Robin and saw that the kid was ready to run. "Tell Slade that I'll be there in only a few minutes with the kid," he told Liz. She nodded and gave another small bow before running off the direction she had first taken.

"Class dismissed!" James yelled to the class. "We will pick up the lesson tomorrow."

"But it is going to rain," a student said. They all started to fan out without caring much that they were done early for the day. No one really had friends in this school. There was just one big pecking order. So no one was excited about hanging out with anyone or goofing off with each other.

"Then we will do it in the rain!" James snapped back. The class groaned but did not protest.

"What is going on?" Robin asked James with his voice shaking a little.

James sighed sadly and said, "Just follow me, kid. But don't worry. I'll be with you the whole time."

"No," Robin said quickly while backing up a little. "What is Slade going to do to me?"

"Look…Robin," James said slowly while searching for the right words. He put his hands on Robin's shoulders and looked into his eyes to show the teen he was very serious right now. "I can't tell you. I can't tell you a lot of things about this school or myself because everything would get complicated and lives would get in danger. I wish I could tell you, though, kid. I really hate to see you like this."

"I can't go!" Robin shouted while trying to get free from James' grip on his shoulders. He was starting to panic. He did not want Slade to do anything to him. "I can't go!" he said again but more quietly. He looked back at James and he suddenly had no idea what he was going to do.

"I can't stop you from making any decisions, Robin," James said to the teen. "But if you want or need advice, then listen to me right now. If you try to escape now I'm one hundred percent sure they will capture you and you will only be running from the enemy. I urge you to come with me now and face Slade and whatever he has planned for you. Please, just trust me now, kid. I know it will be hard for you to, but I promise you that I'll take care of you if anything serious happens. You have my word."

"The word of an assassin is not the greatest," Robin said after some silence.

"Beggars can't be choosers, kid," James said with a faint smile coming to his lips. "So what do you say? Are you going to run or stay?"

Robin's mind raced. His body told him to run, but his mind told him to stay. Something in him told him that James was alright and that he would keep his promise. But the decision was hard to make. Any other day Robin would have run in only a heart beat, but today was different and so was James.

"I…I'll go with you," Robin finally said with a slow nod.

A/N: I'll leave you readers with that. Sorry for shorter chapter. I have a thing I have to go to everyday. It's called SCHOOL! Boring as hell! Sorry for random outbursts. I have problems. But the next chapter will be of BB and Jake. It might take me awhile to get that chapter out because I'm not updating anything till I update my crossover fic. But I hope you liked the chapter and please don't forget to leave a review! Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9 Race to the Tower

A/N: I'm just having so much writer's block for my crossover fic, so I'm going to just go along with this one. I'm getting more reviews and this makes me very happy. Other than that, I have one other thing to say before you read. The very beginning of this chapter will be giving you a short introduction to two new characters. So don't be too confused when you start to read. I'll shut up now and let you read. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yeah, do I really have to say it? Might as well. I don't anything from the Teen Titans.

Chapter 9 Race to the Tower

Sam flipped her dirty blonde hair back behind her shoulders as she made her way to a bench in Central Park in New York City where she lived. School had just let out, and the peaceful park was the best place to relax after a long, boring day at school. With a book in one hand and her cell phone in the other, Sam walked up to her bench with a carefree smile planted on her face.

That smile quickly faded when she saw that someone had beaten her to her bench. The boy looked to be around twelve with short jet black hair that spiked up in all different ways. His head was deep into his own book of choice as he sat crossed legged on the bench. His soft brown eyes flew over the pages with much interest in them.

Sam strode over to the boy. She was very tall for her age and pretty much towered over the small twelve year old sitting on her bench. She was only twelve herself, but she always tried to portray a much older girl. She adjusted her glasses with a small cough.

"Hum?" the boy asked her while still reading. "Do you have something that I can eat?"

"No, idiot!" Sam hissed back at him. "Get out of my seat, shorty!"

That snapped the boy out of his book world. He shot her a dirty glare, but then his expression softened and a smug smile came to his face. "Get me something to eat and then I'll move for you, princess."

Sam narrowed her eyes at him as she thought over the deal. "I don't have any money," she said quickly.

"Nice try," the boy said with a small laugh. "You always put ten dollars in your front pocket before school. You have money. Now stop trying to fool me and get me something to eat. School starves the poor kids."

"You have lunch in the middle of the day, genius," Sam shot back. "And what are you? A stalker? Freak!"

The boy shrugged his shoulders with that smug smile still on his face. Sam gave a frustrated sigh while shoving her cell phone and book into his hands. She then walked off to buy him a hotdog or something to settle his always hungry stomach.

"I'm not short," the boy muttered under his breath as he watched Sam leave. Then her cell phone started to ring. The boy jumped in surprise and almost dropped everything in his hands. He saw who was calling Sam and a wide grin spread over his face.

"Dad!" the boy said happily into the phone while opening it. He was greeted with someone speaking fast Italian. "Yeah, this is her phone. So?" he said in English after a pause. "She went to get me something to eat. She'll be back soon."

There was a long pause as he listened to the person on the other end. His smile dropped into a deep frown of worry. "You got to be kidding me, dad," he said more quietly this time. "The dude filling in for him must be one hell of an actor!" There was a pause then he quickly corrected himself. "Sorry. One _heck_ of an actor. It just slipped out. I'm sorry."

"Abraham!" Sam yelled at the boy as she came back with a Sprite and hotdog. "What are you doing on my phone? You monster!"

"Shh, Sam!" Abe whispered to her. "It's dad."

"Really?" she asked with her mood totally changing. It went from angry to joyful in less than a second at the sound of her dad on the phone. "When can I talk to him?"

"Whoa!" Abe suddenly yelled as he listened to his dad on the other end. "Right now? You always were crazy, dad. You do know that?" He sighed while listening some more. "Okay. We'll do it." He stuck the phone out to Sam and said, "Say goodbye."

"Love you, daddy!" Sam said in a sing song voice. She was returned with a goodbye in Italian.

Abe then listened to his dad for a few more minutes. He started to fidget with the small silver cross attached to a chain around his neck. Sam noticed this and started to worry. Only when her brother was nervous he would do that out of habit. She hoped that her dad was okay.

"Okay," Abe finally said with a nod. "Be safe, dad. Love you." He then hung up and looked at his sister with his brown eyes dead serious. "We need to hurry," he said. "We have to catch the first plane heading for Peru." A wicked smile then faintly came to his lips as he said, "Dad has something very important for us to do."

"Let's go," Sam said quickly. Well, her school year was going down the drain…and she could never be so happy!

- Jake -

That sickening pit in the bottom of his stomach started to form as Jake put down the communicator. He felt weak and defeated. His world was spinning into oblivion and there was nothing to hang onto to save himself. He hated this feeling with a passion. But he could not prevent it or fight it.

Jake slumped to the floor in a complete mess. His last conversation with Slade had left him like this. He should have known that Slade wanted to win and finish this battle with a grand finale. Jake just never knew it would be him who would have to do Slade's dirty work.

"I can't take this!" Jake finally said to himself. He got up in a rush and took off his Red X costume and pulled on some normal clothes. He was in such a rush that he did not take time to notice the two eyes staring at him through the crack of his closet.

Jake grabbed Robin's grappling hook and then threw himself out the open window. He safely made it to the ground then headed for Jump City. It was an early cool spring morning. The stars were still out because it was only around two. The darkness was a welcoming blanket to the distressed teen making his way to his home. His suffering blue eyes looked up to the sky as he let out a sigh. A bird flew over him with a small chirp. If it was daylight, Jake would have recognized the green color of Beast Boy.

The teen slowly made his way through the town on his way back to his crummy apartment that he had just left there to rot with no rent. He paused when he got there. He thought that he would feel home here. But that empty feeling was still gnawing away at him. Then where was home? Jake never felt so alone in his life. This was worse than the time his parents died. He had Valentine then. He had nothing to hold onto now.

Jake finally went into his room in the building. He stood by the door and glanced around the dark kitchen and the very small living room. A single mouse stared up at him from one of the kitchen counters. Jake gave a faint smile at the memories of him coming home at midnight after stealing. Valentine would welcome him home with some junk food, and they would have a small party for his victory.

These memories then made him frown. What would his parents think of him now? They put all their trust in him to keep the family alive and well. That had gone down the drain when he started to steal. Now look at him! He was working for a mad man, and his sister was the one being punished for it! Jake felt terrible.

Suddenly the cell phone on the kitchen table started to ring. Jake jumped in fright of the sudden loud sound. He bit his lower lip as he picked up the phone. It was his best friend, David Smith. He kind of missed his friend from school. He smiled when he remembered school. He had been gone for around a week now.

With some hesitation, Jake finally pressed a button on the cell phone and put it to his ear while saying, "Hello?"

"Jake!" came David's voice from the other end, "Haven't heard from you for ages!" Jake winced when he noticed the slurred speech of his friend. Something went wrong when he had switched places with Robin. David was depressed for some reason and must have gotten himself drunk.

"How's it going, Dave?" Jake said in a quiet voice. "Need some help getting home?"

"Uh…yeah!" David said then laughed really hard. "I would drive if I could get to my car, man! But my legs keep betraying me." He then laughed hard again.

Jake felt sorry for his poor friend. The two used to be so tight. But once Jake became Red X their friendship drifted. David found himself a pretty girlfriend as Jake stole from any place with money in it. They were now pretty much opposite of each other. Jake was just thankful that when he got depressed he never went to alcohol. He just punched the living crap out of some punching bag. Being depressed would only be a downfall to everything for Jake. He had to keep his emotions in check if he wanted to support his family.

"I'll be right there, Dave," Jake said calmly. He then hung up and stuck the cell phone in his pocket.

* * *

There was only one bar where David went to when depressed or bored with life. Jake wondered what put his friend into such a mood because David had lain off the drinking before Jake had switched places with Robin. Jake walked up to the bar with a small frown on his face. David was standing outside and talking to a chair like it was some hot girl. He had sobered up some more. 

"Hey, Dave," Jake said to his friend while walking up next to him. David looked over to Jake with confusion in his eyes. "I'm here to take you home," Jake said calmly but with enough sternness in his voice to demand control.

"Okay," David said with a nod. He said a goodbye to his beautiful chair and tried to follow Jake. He stumbled and Jake had to hold up his friend to prevent him from falling. "Where are we going, Jakey?"

"Home," Jake answered with annoyance in his voice this time. He dragged David to his car and helped him into the passenger's seat. Jake grabbed his friend's keys from his jacket pocket and started the car. As they started to make their way to David's house, Jake started to ask a few questions.

"So why did you get drunk this time, Dave?" Jake asked him with a quick glance to his friend.

"I never saw it coming, man," David said. He was a bit more sobered up now and was serious. "Jessica broke up with me just a few days ago."

Jake raised an eyebrow in interest. "Really?" he said. "You two were together for at least a year."

"Two," David corrected while holding up three fingers.

Jake nodded then asked, "What was the reason?"

"That is what confuses me, man!" David yelled while kicking the glove department in front of him. Jake did not care if he broke it. This was not his car. "She just came up to me and said we were done. She then walked off without telling me any reasons for this break up." He gave a heavy sigh then muttered, "I kind of miss her."

"She was insane," Jake muttered under his breath while looking away. He did not know how right he was. For some reason him and Jessica never clicked. Whenever they had to be together was when they had to share David. Mean words and dirty glares usually were the only means of communication otherwise.

"Stupid fly!" David yelled while swatting a green fly away from his face. It landed on Jake's steering wheel, and Jake could see its color now. His face went pale with fright as he stared at the bug.

"Beast Boy!" Jake whispered so faintly that only his ears could hear it.

"Jake, the light is red," Dave said to his friend while pointing to the road.

Jake looked up and cringed as he slammed on his brakes just in time. Both passengers were thrown forward but they were safe. Jake watched with dread as he saw the fly zigzag its way out of the open window. The green teen knew. He was making his way to the Tower to tell the other Titans. In Jake's mind something snapped, and he went into overdrive. He had to get there before Beast Boy.

"I gotta go, Dave!" Jake yelled over his shoulder. He pretty much kicked the door open and jumped out of the car. "See ya later! Get home safe!"

Jake could hear David yell back at him about how crazy he was as he sprinted down the sidewalk as fast as he could. He rounded the corner and saw that all he would have to do was jump a fence into a small park then he would be at the docks. If he hurried, he could make it there in time.

Gritting his teeth, Jake sped up. He zipped across the road, nearly getting hit a few times. Determination was a burning in his deep, blue eyes as he kept sprinting. He easily jumped the fence with much grace. He almost felt like his old self again when being chased by the Titans. This time he was the one pursuing.

After going through the park, the teen got to the island by one of the speed boats that Robin used sometimes to get across the water. The wind rushed into his face, and he looked ahead to see a small bird land on the top of the Tower. He set his jaw and did not care to tie up the boat when he arrived on land. He rushed up the steps to the Tower like the devil was on his trail. He whipped out his grappling hook and aimed it for his room. In seconds, he landed on the floor of Robin's room with sweat dripping down his forehead and panting hard.

Jake quickly pulled on Robin's uniform and ran out of his room in a great deal of hurry. He made his way to Beast Boy's room and walked right on in. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. He stared gaping at the sleeping form of Beast Boy snuggled up against one of his old stuffed animals on his bunk bed. He was snoring like a freight train and seemed to be in deep sleep.

The teen stood there with total shock on his face. "Idiot!" he whispered harshly to himself as he bent over panting. He was so worn out from that sprint and race to the Tower. But he could have sworn that he had seen Beast Boy as that fly. Or maybe it was just a green light shinning down on it. Now he was not as sure as before. He was really loosing it.

Jake watched Beast Boy sleep for a few seconds then finally left and went back to his room to get some well deserved sleep. As soon as Beast Boy's door closed, the green teen opened his eyes but kept on making his loud snoring sound that could fool anyone who did not know his real snoring. Jake's secrete was known to at least one Titan now. But how long can Beast Boy keep his mouth shut?

-Beast Boy -

Beast Boy sat on the kitchen stool with his head in his hands. He looked to be in deep thought, which was very rare for the teen. It was early morning, before anyone was up and the sun was just rising. He could not go to sleep that night because of what he had seen. The past events kept replaying over and over again in his head.

He could not make up his mind on what to do. His real leader was long gone, and this new guy was fooling the others pretty well. Where was Robin? Now that he knew the truth, he really did miss his old leader and was starting to worry for him. Slade was an insane man who would do anything to get what he wanted. And Robin was part of that want list. Had Slade won already, or was there some chance that Robin could be saved?

And there was this Jake who was posing as Robin and Red X. Three lives wrapped up into one and he was doing a pretty good job with them. If Beast Boy had not been in the right place at the right time no one could have guessed that Robin was not their leader at all till it was too late. But Jake was an okay guy. Beast Boy found that out just by following him last night. The only reason he was doing this for Slade was for someone who he called Valentine. Sister, girlfriend, or just friend, Beast Boy did not care. All he knew was that someone's life was on the line right now.

This was a life and death situation. Jake would do anything for Valentine. He had pretty much given up his soul to Slade for her life. Beast Boy knew Jake was desperate to keep this girl alive. If Beast Boy told the Titans that girl would be dead by tonight. As a superhero, Beast Boy had to keep innocent people safe. He could not tell the others about Jake for now. But he would have to tell Jake that he was on his side.

For once in his life, Beast Boy was forming a plan in his head to get back Robin and keep Valentine safe. Jake was not alone in this.

- Jake -

Jake sat on the edge of his bed all ready for the day. He watched the communicator carefully and waiting for that call from Slade. His heart was beating loudly against his chest. He had thought over last night's events and thought that there might have been a chance that Beast Boy had been faking it last night. Slade could know by now and everything would be over. He was a nervous wreck right now.

The communicator rung and Jake snatched it up and answered it in a heart beat. "Yes?" Jake asked Slade with a forced smile as if nothing was wrong. "What is the plan for the day? Make it fast, because I have breakfast in five minutes. Most important meal, you know?" He was actually doing a pretty good job pretending his cockiness. After this, he might have to pursue a career in acting.

Slade didn't sense the nervous vibe over the communicator and just went on. "I want you to get more Xenothium for that belt of yours," he said in that creepy, steady voice that could just give anyone the chills. "Do that tonight. But I want you to take it easy today. Talk with the other Titans so they don't suspect anything. Who knows, you might have fun, Jake."

Jake knew the man was smiling wickedly under his mask at his last statement. He frowned a little and said, "I can do that. When do we talk next?"

"After you steal that Xenothium," Slade answered. "But before you leave, I need to tell you this one last thing. I can't watch you from here, so I'm sending over a little look out for me. She will watch your every move and tell me everything you do. You will meet her tonight at your break in." He gave a small yet evil laugh and said, "You might like her."

"Her?" Jake asked with confusion. "What's her name?" He could not help but to be intrigued.

"She wants to keep it a surprise," Slade said with a smug smile forming under his mask. "Goodbye for now, Jake." Then the screen went black.

A/N: Sorry for the really short chapter. You guys were pretty much begging for the next chapter, so I threw away my promise to update my crossover fic to give you this. You guys are smart enough to know who the dad is to my two new characters. My next chapter will be of Robin. And I love the guesses you readers are having to who James really is. This is very amusing. But please give a review! Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10 Past Eraser

A/N: I just love making you readers guess. You guys have no idea what I have planned for this fic. And some of you are still guessing to whom those kids belong to. And to clear it up, Jessica is David's ex girlfriend! She dumped him to go work with Slade. And the kids belong to James. Remember when he said he teased his kids the same way he teased Robin? With that all taken care of, here is your chapter! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I'll be boring today. I don't own anything from the Teen Titans.

Chapter 10 Past Eraser

"Well, here we are," James said while stopping in front of a door in the middle of the hallway. It looked like nothing special, and it was more along the lines of a janitor closet. Robin was just as worried, though, because Slade was behind this door with a plan Robin knew had to do with something with him.

Robin sucked in his fear and opened the door with no hesitation. James was a bit surprised at this, but followed the boy in and locked the door behind him. The room was medium sized with a lot of computers and equipment all over the walls. A single, metal table was in the middle of the room, and the sight of this made Robin's stomach turn.

"Where is the technician who works the machine?" Slade said from the side. Robin gave a small shiver at the sound of his voice and because the room was almost cold enough to see your breath. Slade was with a woman who was the principle of the school. She always had her brown hair in a tight bun, and her black eyes bore down at her victims like they were the scum of the earth. Whenever she talked it was always short and to the point and in her snobby French accent.

"This is he," the principle said while waving a hand over to James.

"What!" Robin asked in shock. He shot a stunned look over to James and glared at him. "What is going on, James? I demand an explanation!" James said nothing because he was at a loss of words. He knew how to work the machine like any other teacher did. He did not think that he would be the one doing it to Robin, though.

"It's called a Past Eraser," Slade said while slowly stepping up in front of Robin. "We hook you up to this machine and it goes into your memory and erases it except for the few things I would like to keep. It can even change and warp some of your memories to things I want them to." He paused for a few seconds for effect then said coldly, "When you leave this room, Robin, you won't remember your parents, the Batman, or even the Teen Titans. All you will remember is that you belong to me."

A lot of information had been whacked at him in only a short period of time. Robin just stared up at Slade with total shock and disbelief on his face. How could a machine do all that? His mind was so advanced that he could clearly remember his time with his parents in the circus. His time with Batman was just like yesterday. How would he be able to forget all that?

"You don't believe me, do you, Robin?" Slade asked him with some amusement in his voice. He took a step forward and Robin made a small step back with a frown forming on his face. "Then let me put it this way," Slade said with some thought. "Your memory is like a string of data. Agree?"

Robin thought a little and then shook his head yes. This whole time the principle was telling James a few things about the machine and what to do. He was fiddling with the small silver cross on a chain around his neck. It was a nervous habit of his. He really did not want to be the one doing this to Robin.

"Now, you can change data," Slade said. "This machine goes in and changes it or erases it. You will wake up tomorrow remembering nothing of this conversation. But right now you have to understand it. It is possible, Robin."

"But it will just be like amnesia," Robin said quickly. "If I see something that makes me remember my past then I can instantly remember it."

"Robin, you're in Venice, Italy," Slade said with a small, evil laugh at Robin's foolishness. "Your team is on the other side of the world, and they have no clue that you are with me. No will come looking for you, and you will not even remember them. For a long time you will not see or hear anything of the Teen Titans or any of your past. And that is just enough time."

Robin searched for words desperately. He found none, though. Slade was right. If this happened then Slade would win. But Robin was not going down that easily. Without a word, Robin bolted for the door. He did not think it was locked and that was his mistake. He panicked when it wouldn't open for him.

"You're not getting out of here any time soon," Slade said to Robin with some amusement in his voice. Robin hit the metal door with a tight fist with a loud, frustrated cry. He was now mad at himself for being so stupid and walking into a trap like this. He turned around to face Slade and shot the man a deadly glare.

"This is your first test into acceptance for this school," Slade said. "That table over there is to hold you down before we knock you out. I'm sure that you will not come quietly, so the principle, here, has agreed to not give you a test herself like other students who want to join the school. You're test will be how you fight me. If you win, then your memory will not be erased. If I win, you will be on that table knocked out. You can do whatever you want to get away. And be creative because I won't go easy on you."

"Can I be cheerleader?" James asked with a smile. His smile dropped when Robin shot him a dirty glare to shut up. "Just trying to lighten up the mood in here," James said weakly with a small shrug.

"Shut up," the principle hissed at James.

"Before I shut up for once," James said, "You can't hurt Robin too much, Slade. No broken bones, kay?"

Slade glanced over to James with a small nod. Robin saw this as an opening and went into action. He did not care if he was being tested for the stupid school. All he knew was that this was a good time to beat Slade once and for all and get back home. All he so desperately wanted right now was to go back home! At the moment, he had some hope to do just that.

Robin gave a small battle cry while coming at Slade with a roundhouse kick to the head. Slade ducked easily, but Robin expected this from the man from the many times he had fought Slade. Robin landed behind Slade and spun around and slid under the man on his back. He jammed his foot up in an attempt to get him where it counted. It was worth a try and was different from his usual style of fighting.

Slade had been surprised by Robin's move that was a bit different, but he quickly grabbed Robin's ankle and started to casually drag the teen to the table. Robin gave a small grunt while thinking of ways to get out of Slade's grip. He threw himself forward and grabbed Slade's shoulder, and this made the man a bit off balance. While still holding onto Slade's shoulder with both hands, Robin brought up his free leg and kneed Slade right in the face while the man was trying to regain some of his balance.

The man released Robin's ankle, and the teen jumped back to make sure he would stay free. He had no time to recoup because Slade was already coming back at him. This time Slade got a hold onto Robin's wrist. Robin tried to break free by some simple moves, but every time he tried something Slade tightened his grip. The man then started to pull Robin toward the table once again.

"No," Robin muttered as he pulled himself the opposite way Slade wanted him to go. He was having a hard time with this challenge because he was so used to having Slade just wanting to beat him up while he had the same idea in mind. But this was different. Robin wanted to beat Slade to a pulp while Slade only wanted him down. He had to change his perspective another way, and he was trying to quickly adapt to this new way to fighting.

"Getting frustrated, Robin?" Slade asked him while pretty much dragging the teen to the table. It wasn't so hard because Robin was a light teen who ate almost nothing. He smiled under his mask when he saw Robin give him a glare.

Robin then jumped into the air and tried to kick Slade in the face once again. Slade expected this and dodged out of the way while still holding onto the boy's wrist in a vice grip. Robin then realized that he could not repeat his moves if he wanted to get free. He smiled when an idea hit him. If Slade wanted Robin to be creative, then he sure would get it.

The teen ran toward the table. This caught Slade off guard. Robin then ran under Slade's legs while grabbing Slade's hand that was holding onto his wrist. When he got the other side of Slade, he twisted his arm so that it was hard for Slade to keep his grip on his wrist. Slade let him go and spun around. Robin ran to the door of the room and stood there.

"You want me, Slade," Robin said, "Then come and get me."

Robin noticed that the principle was smiling and nodding her head. She looked like she wanted to break out the popcorn and watch the fight unfold. James looked a bit worried and was fiddling with the silver cross around his neck once again. They made eye contact and James smiled slightly. This only made Robin confused. He had thought that James had betrayed him, but maybe James was still on his side.

"Good, Robin," Slade said while putting his hands behind him in his normal, relaxed stance. Robin stayed in his fighting stance as he stared at Slade with fire burning in his eyes. "But that was just a warm up. Now things will get serious."

Slade said nothing else. He started to come at Robin because it was clear that the teen was not going to budge if Slade did nothing. Robin had to play defensive and offensive now. He had to dodge Slade's persistent attacks so not get trapped in another deadly hold. But if he wanted to win, he had to hit him some time.

"Go, Robin!" James said cheerfully when Robin nailed Slade in the chest and made the man stumble back and into a wall. He was now getting all into it, and he had some faith that Robin could win. When Slade gave him a glare, he just shrugged his shoulders and said in a joking tone, "Not everyone has to cheer for you, Slade."

After a few more minutes of the two going at each other, Robin started to wear out, yet Slade was still fresh. The teen was running out of moves, and he was starting to repeat ones as his head spun for any new ones. But Slade just kept coming at him with full force. It was starting to scare Robin. He was realizing that he had no chance of winning this.

Robin was now gasping for breath because this had been going on for a good two hours. The sweat was dripping down his back and forehead as he ducked and dodged out of the way of attacks. He had to struggle to get out of Slade's grips as he slowly was dragged over to that dreaded table. He was slipping away fast. Sooner than later it would be all over.

The teen finally got out of one hold and that Slade had on his wrist. He tried to gain some ground by heading for the door, but he was suddenly seized by his shoulders. He was flipped over Slade's head and came crashing down on the metal floor face first. He landed on his hands and knees with a wince. He tried to roll to the side, but Slade caught him by his hair and pulled him to his feet.

"Are you losing energy?" Slade asked Robin. He then let Robin go. The teen quickly went in for a punch to Slade's side, but Slade grabbed his fist in both hands and pulled Robin toward him. This knocked Robin off guard. He slammed into Slade's chest with a wince. He was grabbed around the waist and carried toward the table.

"Let go!" Robin protested while trying to break free. He tried kicking and punching, but Slade seemed to be a brick wall at this point. Robin gasped for breath for a few seconds as he tried to regain strength. He tried again, but his attacks were fruitless. He just did not have enough strength or energy left in him.

"No!" Robin yelled as he was dropped onto the table. He had already lost, but the realization of the situation was now starting to kick in. He would never be able to remember his friends or family after this. All those memories that he cherished or hated would be wiped away, and he would have no idea he had ever had them. He didn't was to lose them.

"Don't do this!" Robin shouted desperately. He tried to get up from the table, but Slade shoved him back down. He was then strapped down tightly, but the teen still strained against his bindings while shouting protests. "Please, Slade, don't do this!"

Slade looked down at Robin as James started up the machine. "I'll see you in the morning, my apprentice," Slade said smoothly. "Have a good sleep and nice dreams."

"No, Slade!" Robin yelled as Slade left. "Don't!"

A bright light went on above Robin, and he had to squint to see anything. James face suddenly came into view. He said nothing for a few seconds as he just looked down at Robin with concern and empathy in his eyes. "Hold still, Robin," he then said quietly. "This will only hurt for a few seconds."

Pain erupted in Robin's shoulder and he cried out. He then winced as another wave of pain flew through his body. His head started to spin while his vision started to fuzz. He winced again while trying his hardest to hang on to conciseness.

_I'll miss you, Titans,_ was Robin's last thought before finally giving into the darkness around him. One single, hot tear escaped his eye and fell down onto the table. He didn't want to wake up if this was the price he had to pay. But fate had more in store for him.

- James -

At around one in the morning James was finally finishing up his job with Robin. Everyone was fast asleep, so he had the cold, dark room to himself which sometimes creeped him out. For hours he had been staring at his computer screen and slowly but surely erasing Robin's past. He had just finished with Robin's life with Batman, and he had warped some of those memories into dark ones that would make Robin fear his old mentor.

James sighed for the hundredth time that night as he erased Robin's first memory of his team. He knew that he shouldn't feel all that guilty of what he was doing because he already had a plan in action to restoring the boy's memory and return him to his friends, but there were many things in between those two points. James had to keep Slade off his trail and fool him till the very last minute.

The door of the room opened up a little and let some light shine in. James glanced over to the intruder to see it was only Slade. His hand went up to the cross around his neck as he looked back to his screen. He was not in the mood to talk to this evil mad man.

"How much longer will this take?" Slade asked James while walking quietly up to him. He pulled up himself a rolling chair and sat down next to James.

"I lost track a few hours ago," James said with a yawn. "It was around the same time my coffee ran out." He glanced over to Slade again with a grin that quickly dropped because of the man's stern look. "Two or three," James then muttered with another sigh.

"How is he taking it?" Slade asked while looking over to Robin's motionless body.

"He's a strong kid," James said. "He's taking it perfectly fine. I'm just worried about when he wakes up. He's going to have a lot of questions of his blurry past. You're going to have to come up with a fake past for him if you want him to not pester you with questions."

There was a long, unhealthy pause in the room. James didn't dare look over to Slade as he kept working with the computer. He was worried that Slade already knew of his plan.

"There's more," Slade said while studying James' face.

"I don't know how he's going to react," James said after a long pause. "I'm taking away and changing so much memory that I don't know how his mind will function. He'll live, but I don't know if this machine will do the job you're hoping it will do."

"What will happen if this doesn't work?" Slade asked him.

"Nothing big," James said with a shrug. "He will just regain some memories, but this will just confuse the boy because everything in his mind will be jumbled up. I'm walking on thin ice right now."

"We need a plan to keep him busy and so that his mind is not thinking of his past," Slade said while rubbing his chin with an index finger in deep thought. "What do you think?"

"Another mission," James answered. He was so glad that he was on Slade's good side right now. "He could be sent out to assassin someone by himself and be tested by that. If you want to make this superhero change all his morals on life, the best way is to make him kill a man. After that he is pretty much yours."

"I know that," Slade snapped back at James with annoyance. "I just think that it is too early for him. He might hesitate and that will bring up his past again."

James gave a small laugh and said, "With all his memory gone we won't know what to think! It would be a great time to give him that assignment."

Another long pause.

"Perfect," Slade said while smiling evilly under his mask. If James said it was a good idea then he would have to go with it. After Robin finished his next mission, the boy would be his.

"Finished," James said with a yawn. "It was quicker to erase all of his memory of the Titans than I thought it would. I didn't have to change anything there. Now, would you like to help me carry you're new and improved slave to his bed?"

"He's not heavy," Slade said while standing up.

"Yeah, but the problem is that I have no clue where his room is," James said with a smile.

Slade rolled his eye and picked up Robin by his ankles. James took the other end and they both slowly started to walk back to Robin's room. There was once again that sickening silence as the two made their way down the deserted hallways of the school. They finally made it to the room and carefully set Robin's body down on the bed.

"You can leave now," James said while waving Slade away. "I have a few more tests to do before I can leave Boy Wonder, here, alone." Slade nodded and left right away.

James smiled at the door then looked back down at Robin. Slade had no idea what was going on right now, but he would figure it out sometime soon. James hoped it would be too late. "Slade shouldn't trust someone like me too much," James said to himself. He gave a laugh then said, "I love my job way too much!"

A/N: Short chapter once again. Sorry for doing this to you guys. The next chapter will be of Robin waking up. I'm having too much fun with this fic. But I'm having another fan fiction coming out soon that I'm sure will be really good, so this fic might be slow to update in the future. But please review! Thanks!


	11. Chapter 11 Final Mission

A/N: Another chapter for my wonderful readers is coming right up! I had a hard time coming up with this one because my big question was: How would Robin act if he didn't know the Titans and he thought he was an apprentice of Slade? Trust me; this is not the most easiest thing in the world. But here it goes! Tell me if you like or dislike it in a review. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything from the Teen Titans.

Chapter 11 Final Mission

With a loud gasp, Robin woke up from his deep sleep, and he shot up in his bed with his eyes wide with a horror unknown. At first he was deeply confused as to where he was or even who he was, but it all slowly came back to him in small pieces that didn't seem to fit together properly.

Yes, he was Robin, the apprentice of Slade, and he was in his room in the Dragon Academy, but something was just not right. Something big was missing, and it was starting to drive the teen insane with guessing. It was at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't grasp whatever was not there.

Robin gave a small sigh and looked around his room feeling very refreshed from his long sleep. He hadn't felt this revived in such a long time! But why was that? Robin was starting to feel very confused and empty inside. Something was gone, but he just didn't know what.

It finally hit Robin that he had overslept and he was drastically late for his classes. He flew out of bed and pulled on some clothes in a rush. He quickly gathered up his books on his small desk and ran outside his room and right into somebody.

"Slade?" Robin said quietly while looking up at the man with surprise.

"I want you to be at combat practice early today, Robin," Slade said. A small smile formed on his lips under his mask as he saw the confusion on the boy's face.

As if by nature, Robin nodded his head and said, "Yes, Master." He paused while quickly walking down the hallway. He felt lost this time. Where was he going again?

"Something wrong, Robin?" Slade asked him.

Robin said nothing while looking back to the man with his face a complete mystery of any kind of emotions. They both stood there silently for a few seconds till finally Robin gave up on this frustrating guessing game and answered, "Nothing, Master. I'm just messed up today because I overslept."

Slade was a bit surprised when he saw Robin smile warmly at him and say, "I'll see you next time at combat practice." The teen then walked to his first class with his smile slowly fading because of the constant inner battle in him. That machine had really done the trick on the boy. Slade had to admit that he was very pleased with the outcome. Robin was pretty much his now, but Slade knew that he would have to give the teen one last test before he could know for sure that Robin was his true apprentice.

* * *

The day was finally done. Everyone had gone off to sleep once again. Darkness had covered the whole island like a giant, black blanket. A few stars peeked out of the many puffy clouds in the sky. The moon was dimly seen through one of the clouds and it gave off a soft light onto the land below. 

Somehow the teen sitting in the broken bell tower of the old church that night felt comfort with the darkness around him. His hard eyes stared up at the many stars as if he was questioning them and they had all the answers to his latest problem. A small wind picked up and brushed over his face but he was not affected by the coldness it brought over his body.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" came a voice from behind Robin. The teen looked over to the intruder and saw James, his odd teacher, standing next to the stairs leading back to the church. Through the darkness, Robin could see the man smile at him.

"Yeah," he said quietly after a small silence.

"Is that your only answer, kid?" James asked him with a small laugh. "Pretty lame if you ask me."

"I'm guessing that you're going to tell me some stupid story about the stars to make me happier, and then you're going to send me to bed," Robin said with his voice cold as ice. He looked back up to the sky and leaned his back against a brick pillar.

"Nope," James said with soft smile coming to his lips. Robin looked back at him with confusion spreading over his face. James gave a sigh while leaning his back against the same pillar Robin was leaning against so that they were both looking different ways. "We both came up here to look at the stars for our own quiet times from this hectic world. Why can't we share the same good view?"

They were both silent for a few seconds till Robin said, "Thanks." James looked down with a frown planted on his face. He had seen that deep pain on the teen's face, and it was almost too much. He had erased everything precious to that kid and now he had no purpose or passion in his life. That sick feeling of guilt turned into a knot in the pit of his stomach. But why would he feel that? This was only temporarily if his plan worked out.

"James?" suddenly Robin asked out of the darkness. All James could hear was his voice that sounded lost…but not defeated. He was a strong boy who was struggling.

"Hmm?" James answered.

"I…" Robin started but stopped with a sigh. "When do I get my next mission for the school? Slade said I would get one last assignment before I could fully be accepted into the Academy."

"I wasn't supposed to tell you this, kid," James said, "But I'm taking you and Slade to breakfast tomorrow morning, and Slade and I will tell you your next mission there. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," Robin answered with a small nod. "Do you think I'll pass?"

"No," James said with an evil smile spreading over his face. This quickly got the reaction James was looking for out of the teen.

"What do mean by no?" Robin asked him with some small bit of anger in his voice.

"I just don't think that you'll pass," James said with a shrug. "You're too young. Something will stop you before you will get it done. I can promise you that."

"Promise nothing," Robin shot back quickly. "I'm going to pass."

"You just keep telling yourself that, kid," James said smugly.

"You're just pulling my leg," Robin said with a chuckle. "No one will stop me."

"Except for yourself," James muttered under his breath. Robin heard this but said nothing. What was this crazy teacher talking about? Why would he stop himself from completing this mission? More confusion was mixed into that stream of puzzlement in his head. Would this confusion and emptiness ever go away?

- James -

"Smell that wonderful misty, morning air!" James said after a taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Slade rolled his eye while walking past the teacher still on the dock. Robin jumped off the black speed boat with a smile playing at the corner of his lips from the small bit of joy of getting off the island for a change. He felt free this morning, and he was trying to shake the confusion out of his head. So far this breakfast was doing just the magic on him.

"So where are we going?" Robin asked Slade. He ran to catch up with the man and had to take long strides to keep up with his pace. "Are we having breakfast here?"

"Yep," James said while suddenly coming up beside Robin. The two shared eye contact and James winked. Robin smiled slightly then looked over to Slade. The two were acting like James hadn't told the boy anything that night on the bell tower.

The three walked around the winding city till they got to the outside café next to a small canal. Almost no one was around this early in the morning, and the place barely had any business. Only two other people were there on what looked to be their honeymoon, and they didn't even look over to the three as they sat down at one of the small, round tables under a colorful tarp.

Robin tried to hold back his eagerness to know his mission as he opened his menu with a sigh. He was too excited to eat anything at the moment. He looked up and saw James looking at his menu thinking hard on what he wanted. Robin smiled a little while looking over to Slade who was staring at him silently. The teen quickly looked back to his menu and wondered why he felt so uncomfortable under the stare of his master.

A waiter came up to their table and James ordered himself some coffee and bread. Robin ordered some water and the same bread James ordered. Slade had nothing. After their orders arrived, Robin looked up at James and waited for him to say something.

"You told him, didn't you?" Slade asked James suddenly.

James looked up at Slade and smiled sheepishly while saying, "Maybe."

"You don't know how to keep your mouth shut for too long," Slade said coldly to the man.

"You seriously don't know me if you tell me any kind of secret," James said with a wicked smile. "Was it really that big of a deal?"

Slade said nothing because it wasn't a big deal. It was something big for Slade, though. He had tested the man and he had failed. Trust was something Slade wanted to see in James, but he had found none so far. Right now the man was on thin ice and he didn't even know it. This man was different, and Slade wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery.

"So are you guys going to tell me?" Robin asked them.

"Go ahead," James said to Slade with a shrug. "He's your apprentice."

Slade held back a sigh and turned his head over to Robin. "You're last mission, Robin, will not be an easy one," he said and saw Robin give him a nod. "You have to fly to Peru and take out a man there. We can't give you details about him right here. But this is your choice, Robin. Will you do it?"

Robin felt nothing holding him back. This was the life he thought he was destined to live. Slade was his master and this would be nothing later on. Killing a man was nothing. His eyes stared into Slade's one good eye, and he was dead serious as he nodded his head and said, "Yes. Anything for you, Master."

- Abraham -

"See anything?" a voice asked Abe from his earpiece.

"Well, duh," Abe answered quietly to his sister. His small body was dangling more than forty feet into the air from a giant tree somewhere deep in the rainforests of Peru. The sun was setting fast on the land and darkness would quickly engulf that side of the earth. The tree frogs and bugs were making as much noise as possible for whatever reason, but Abe didn't mind the sound at all.

"Dad said that the school was assigning Robin to take out the guy that lives here?" Abe asked Sam with disbelief in his voice. "I hope they mentioned that the place has one heck of a security system."

"Describe it to me, little dude," Sam said into her headset. She was back at their hotel in Pulcallpa, which was miles away from where her brother was. She sat on the bed crossed-legged with her laptop in her lap and other various computer tech around her.

"I'm NOT little!" Abe yelled back at his sister as his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Too bad your original form is," Sam said smugly. "Now, get over yourself and use those new binoculars I made you to check the place out."

"I'm not little," Abe muttered while holding up the binoculars. "Hey! These things are awesome, Sam!" he said with a smile. "I can see the place clearly. Okay, the dude has a fortress of some kind. Lots of fencing with…sorry, lots of _electric_ fencing with guards places everywhere. And they have guns." As he said this he started to zoom in out of the place just for fun.

"Now, daddy is going to give Robin's memory back on the plane ride here," Sam said while typing something in her computer. "How is he going to do that when he is not aloud to go with the leader?"

Abe said nothing as he zoomed up on an old guy sitting in a hot tub on the second floor. The kid smiled while pressing one of the buttons on the binoculars and took a picture of a close up on the guy's face. "Gotcha," he whispered slyly. "I wonder what he will say when the CIA tells him that a kid was the one who took a picture of him."

"Abe!" Sam yelled at the boy with anger in her voice.

Abe cringed as his earpiece made a high pitched sound in his ear from her screaming. "What?" he hissed back. "I got a picture of the dude. Why can't we just let Robin kill the big drug dealer?"

Sam gave a sigh and said, "Because it just wouldn't be right and you know that. If Robin kills someone he is pretty much Slade's. Plus, when Robin has his memory back do you really think that he will kill this man? Just do what daddy told you to do. Are you listening to me, Abe?"

Abe faked some snoring and stopped and said, "You're a snore fest, Sam. I was just kidding around. Why do you have to be so serious all the time?"

"If we were both idiots like you then where would we be?" Sam asked.

"Having a much more fun time," Abe said with a nod. "And I'm not an idiot. We were both born geniuses like mom and dad and you know it. Plus, I'm the one with skills, and you are the computer geek who tells me where to go and stuff."

Sam rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, that's very reassuring. The computer geek, ay? I could do your job if I practiced my powers as much as you do. But could you do my job? Didn't think so!"

"Don't be jealous," Abe muttered.

"There is for me to be jealous of," Sam said with a small laugh. "Now, come back to Pulcallpa after taking a few more pictures of the place. We need to plan out tomorrow for picking up Robin and how you will take his place."

"Roger that!" Abe said with a nod. "I'm out!" In exactly 24 hours he would be here again. But the only difference would be that he would go into the place he was checking out. His dad had a perfect plan to get Robin back to his team. If he had called the CIA, who he was working for, they would not have taken him seriously or they would blow it way out of proportion and everything would get messy. Abe loved it that his dad trusted him and his sister enough to put such a responsibility into their hands.

Abe took some more pictures of the place to get a good feel about it. He then strapped the binoculars back into his belt and started to climb back down the giant tree he was in. It took him a while to get back down because he had to be so careful where to step. When he got to the ground it was dark and he could barely make out anything.

"_Don't move, kid_," a gruff voice ordered Abe coldly in Spanish. Abe stiffened when he felt cold metal at the back of his neck. A shiver went down his spine the guy with the gun shoved the barrel more into his skin. He had been spotted way up there on the tree when he had been spying. They were smart.

"_Johnny, he's just a small pipsqueak_," came another voice in the darkness in the same language. Abe noted that there had to be at least two guards out there. "_You most likely made him pee in his pants by now. He's not threat to us, so put the gun down_."

"Guess again," Abe said with a smile when he felt the gun fall away from his neck. He jumped into the air and executed a perfect roundhouse kick to the guy's head and his gun went flying into the air. As soon as the kid landed on the ground, shots rung out into the air from the other guard.

"Whoa!" Abe breathed as he dodged the bullets. In the darkness no one would see him use his powers. In seconds the little boy had turned into a big weight lifter guy. He delivered a sharp kick to the guy he had already taken down and knocked him out cold. He then quickly turned into a small three year old toddler to dodge the bullets coming at him.

"_I'm NOT small_!" Abe yelled in Spanish while coming at the guard. He changed into his original form and punched the guy square in the nose and got a loud cry of pain out the man. Blood flew into the air from the hard attack. The guy held onto his nose while wailing out of the pain from his broken nose.

Abe was relentless as he kneed the man in the stomach and knocked the air out of him. The kid yanked out the some cord he had coiled on his belt for his climb. He quickly tied both guards to a tree and stood back to marvel at his handiwork.

"_Tell your boss that a kid is coming for him_," Abe said in Spanish to the guard that was not in dream land at the moment. "_And I want to make a deal with him. Make sure that he takes me seriously when you tell him. Thanks!"_

Abe walked over to his backpack and put his belt back in it with a smile. He pulled away some leaves and uncovered his motorcycle that he had ridden to get out there. He quickly turned into an older version of himself so he could fit on it and cranked up his bike. He didn't bother putting it in first gear and went right away into second as he sped off with grass and dirt flying up into the air.

Now, these kids were no normal, cute kids that you see in school or begging for candy from a parent. They weren't so cute when they were giving you a nice butt kicking or hacking into your secret files on your computer just for the heck of it. Both of their parents were geniuses that had worked as spies for the CIA. Everything had been passed down to their kids, including there shape shifting powers that the boy loved to use.

The family of four had all worked for the CIA till one dreadful day that the mom died while on a mission. It had crushed the family, and the dad had taken the kids out of the CIA, but he still worked for them. But the kids always longed for an adventure once in a while, so their dad gave them small missions sometimes that let them test their skills. This mission was different, though. This one was serious.

A/N: So how was the chapter? Sorry if I'm making you guys confused with these kids. James has a plan in action with them and I don't want you readers to know most of it till the time comes. Next chapter is of Red X stealing more Xenothium and meeting his new watcher. Am I spelling Xenothium right? I have no idea how to spell so it would make me happy if you readers could help me with this. So please give a review! Thanks!


	12. Chapter 12 Pillow Fight!

A/N: I just now realized how much this fic is like the fifth Alex Rider book. I didn't even know I was doing it till I read a review saying that this fic reminded them of a mix of Alex Rider/Artimis Fowl/Teen Titans thrown into a blender. I didn't realize that I did that with the whole Alex Rider book. It makes me laugh once I think of it. But my readers seem to really like this fic, so here is another chapter that I hope you like as much as the others. Please R&R. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Me don't own or ever will own. That came out strange. Oh well.

Chapter 12 Pillow Fight!

"Where is everyone?" Raven asked Robin as she walked into the main living room with the giant TV screen. Robin was lying on the black, leather couch looking bored and worried about something. He had been doing that for the past two hours. He just stared up at the ceiling like it was the only interesting thing at the moment.

"Oh," Jake said while sitting upright. "Cyborg is in the garage working on the T-car. Starfire is at the mall. Beast Boy is reading some of his comics in his room."

"What about you?" Raven asked him with that emotionless tone. She had defiantly been meditating for a long time. "You look bored."

Jake yawned while thinking on how to answer. He was resting before his outing that night. Stealing Xenothium from a big plant with a ton of high security would not be an easy thing, and he was preparing his mind and body for it.

"I kind of am," Jake said with a faint smile to Raven.

"Do you want to play chess with me?" Raven finally asked him with a sigh. She hated to admit that she was bored as well. She had meditated enough for her liking, and chess was just something she liked to play at random times.

"How 'bout a videogame?" Jake asked her slyly. He waved a controller in his hand and saw her face form into a look of thought. If Beast Boy had asked her this question she would have said no right away and would have left, but he knew that this was different. Robin and her had a tight bond, and they both took each other seriously.

"You have to be kidding me, Robin," Raven said finally. Jake saw the interest on her face, though, and he slowly started to pick at it.

"You've never played this thing, have you?" Jake asked her with a laugh.

"No," Raven answered. "TV rots your brain."

"You're missing out on videogames," Jake said. "Oh well, it's your loss." He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal and went back to staring at the ceiling. He had set the bait, and the dark fish was sure to take it sooner than later.

"I'm not missing out on anything," Raven said while sitting next to Jake's head. A stubborn frown was planted on her face, but her eyes shown with amusement as she looked down at him. "I already know how to play the stupid thing, and it is not fun."

"So you have played it before?" Jake asked her. He arched his back up so that he could see her reaction. She gave him a frustrated look and rolled her eyes. He smiled at her and gave a small laugh at her actions. He loved to tease her like this.

"No, I haven't played it before," Raven finally said while crossing her arms in front of her. "But it looks uneventful."

"You're just scared that you won't be good enough to beat anyone," Jake said while pointing a finger at her. That smile was still on his face as he saw her look down at him with wide eyes of surprise. She then got angry at him for saying that she was scared, and she glared at him. This only got another laugh out of the boy having fun messing with her mind.

"I'm not scared," Raven said to make him shut up. "I could beat you any day."

"Prove it," Jake said while throwing a controller in her lap. He sat up and grabbed himself one and started up one of the racing games that Cyborg and Beast Boy loved to play all the time. He glanced over to her and smiled wickedly. "I'm going to burn you into a crisp, Raven," he said cockily.

"You're evil, Robin," Raven muttered to him while accepting her fate. She looked at her controller with plain confusion on her face. She really had no idea what the heck she was doing or how she got into this mess for that matter.

"Okay, go!" Jake said while pressing on the gas button and leaving poor Raven in the dust in only two seconds. He laughed out loud when he saw Raven pressing all the buttons on her controller and trying to figure out how to make her car just go.

"Stupid thing," Raven muttered to herself. "This thing is broken."

"Gas is X," Jake whispered to her.

"How about this," Raven said to him. She stuck her hand out at the seat he was sitting on. Jake looked down as his cushion turned black from the girl's powers. Before he could even yell a protest, Jake was flying up towards the ceiling at great speed. He gave a sharp yell while falling off the cushion and landing on the ground next to Raven on his butt.

"That was cheating!" Jake said while grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Raven out of anger. Raven simply stuck her hand out at it then pointed it at Jake. The pillow turned black and slammed into Jake's head and sent him to the floor again with a loud 'uuff'.

"Not fair!" Jake said while getting up. He quickly pulled out one of Robin's bird-a-rangs and sliced the next black pillow coming at him. Feathers flew into the air, and Jake had to fight his way out of the mess. He heard Raven give a small laugh of amusement. It was one of the first times he had heard her laugh like that, and it made him smile for some reason.

"It looks like I'm going to beat you after all, Robin," Raven said smugly. Jake came at her again with another feather pillow, but Raven distracted him by pretty much blowing up all the pillows on the couch and sending millions of white feathers into the air.

"And you say that I'm evil," Jake said to her through the feathers. _Whack!_ A pillow hit him on the back of his head. He turned sharply around while shaking the few stars away from his vision. He whacked Raven back, and she came back at him full force. They both then cracked up from the complete mess they had made over a simple subject of videogames and from how childish they were acting at the moment.

Jake and Raven both sat down in the middle of the living room floor holding onto their sides as the many feathers cleared away. Raven loved having these kinds of times with the only person she trusted them with. He was the very best friend she could ever have. All those worries of him somehow acting different were gone at the moment as she let go of her emotions for a few minutes to enjoy life for once.

Jake finally calmed down and looked over to Raven and fell in love with that smile of hers. He hadn't seen her like this ever before. When she was having fun she was beautiful. Those violet eyes were shinning with life instead of that emotionless dull that she always seemed to have. Jake loved her like this.

"DUDE!"

Both teens jumped from where they were sitting in the living. They looked behind them to see Beast Boy standing there with wide eyes of horror of the mess, yet he couldn't hold back a smile of the situation. He was just sad that he wasn't the one who got to do it.

"We can explain…somehow," Jake said quickly while getting up. Raven stood up next to him while dusting herself off of feathers. She looked at him and pointed to his hair with a smile playing on the corner of her lips. Jake winced while shaking all the feathers out of his spiky hair.

"You guys have issues," Beast Boy said while looking at the two strangely. "I was just going to ask you, Robin, if you could come with me to get a videogame that Cy and I really want."

Jake would have said no if he was not dwelling on the night before whenever he saw the changeling. He didn't want to let the teen out of his sight now. The changeling could tell anyone of his secret if he was left alone with any of the other Titans. Going with him to get a simple videogame would be easy.

"Sure, Beast Boy," Jake said with a wide grin. "We can rent some movies for tonight too. Let's go!"

"Who's going to clean this all up?" Beast Boy asked him while looking at the feathers. He then shrugged his shoulders while yanking Jake out the door while saying over his shoulder, "Thanks, Raven!"

"Idiots," Raven muttered to herself while standing in the middle of the room. She then gave a sigh and made sure her emotions were in check with themselves before starting to slowly clean up the mess. Cyborg would have a cow if he found this out.

- Beast Boy -

"Dude, Star wants some chick flick for tomorrow afternoon," Beast Boy said to Robin while searching the rack for anything he thought would be good for the alien girl. "How 'bout _Cellular_?"

Jake gave a short laugh and said, "Get serious, Beast Boy. Just get her _Legally Blonde_ for something like that." He smiled faintly when remembering him and Valentine watching all kinds of chick flicks late at night just to make fun at them and laughing till they both cried from the stupidity of some. _Legally_ _Blonde_ was one of their favorites. (A/N: it's a fun hobby doing that. Chick flicks can be so stupid sometimes that it just makes me laugh. It's the best when the girl starts to cry.)

"What's that?" Beast Boy asked Robin with confusion. "How do you suddenly know all these girl movies? You hang around Starfire too much, dude."

"Its common sense," Jake said with a forced smile. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow at him and let him go. He knew that Jake wasn't Robin, and yet he was so comfortable around him, as if he was the real person. Slade had picked the right guy because even though Beast Boy did know that this wasn't Robin he sometimes caught himself thinking it really was.

The boys quickly finished up with their movie shopping for the night and started to walk back to the Tower. The day was humid and looked like it was going to rain soon. The wind was strong and warned people to stay in their houses that night. Beast Boy finally worked up the courage at that time to say what he wanted to say to Jake.

"Hey, Robin," he said with his tone serious for once. He glanced over to the teen and saw that his mind was somewhere else right now. Maybe he shouldn't tell it to him here.

"Yeah?" Jake answered while looking back to the changeling. He was back to the real world now, and Beast Boy told himself to just suck it up. But how would Jake react when he knew that Beast Boy knew everything about him? He would just have to see.

"Um…I don't know exactly how to say this…but here it goes," Beast Boy said. He was stumbling on words and trying his hardest just to spit it out. "I know who the real you behind that mask."

Jake tried to act cool even though he was panicking at that moment. "Like my real name?" he asked Beast Boy after swallowing some fear. "So you know who the Batman is?"

"Stop acting like the friend I know," Beast Boy said to Jake sharply. "You can fool the others and me pretty good with this act, but I still know that you're Jake and that you're working for Slade."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Beast Boy," Jake tried once again even though it was pointless. The changeling knew, and that meant Val was going to be dead by tonight. He could even see her small grave stone now. It was like all hope was sucked out of the teen as a numbness took over his body.

"This isn't a good place to talk about this," Beast Boy muttered. He pulled Jake into an alleyway and said, "I know that you're Jake, you're Red X, and that Slade is making you do this for someone called Valentine." He paused while letting Jake finally break out his shock of the situation. He took a deep breath and said, "Jake, I'm on your side!"

"Huh?" Jake asked him with disbelief in his voice. He only managed to ask, "Why?"

"It's because of that Valentine girl you care so much about," Beast Boy said with a nod. "I heard your conversation with Slade, and it sounded like her life was on the line if you didn't do what he told you to do. So I followed you for a few hours afterwards with that drunken guy. You caught me as a fly, and I beat you back to the Tower and pretended to be sleeping. I just didn't know how to think of all this at that point, so I had to dwell on it for a few hours."

Jake slumped to the floor in shock as he bit his lower lip. Worry was planted on face as he was stuck in deep thought over the matter. This put a whole new spin on things. Beast Boy was on his side now? If he was then Slade had no idea so far. He knew that something could turn to his favor here, or he could just be walking on thin ice instead.

"Dude, you okay?" Beast Boy asked him while bending down to look Jake in the eyes. "You look sick."

"So you won't tell the others?" Jake suddenly asked him.

"I can't promise you that," Beast Boy said. He saw Jake's face go paler (if that was possible), and he tried to quickly back up his answer. He put on a cocky smile and said, "I'm going to make a deal with you here. You want Valentine back, and I want my leader back. Now that you someone else working with you maybe we can trick Slade and bring them back. How does that sound?"

"You're crazy if you think you can fool Slade," Jake said while standing up. "I want Val back so badly, but what can I do? I do admit that I hate doing this for Slade, and if Val was not on the line I would have never done this to Robin. I really hope he is okay. But you and I can't do anything."

"That's what you think," Beast Boy said with a smile. "But I have a plan. Wanna hear it?"

"No," Jake snapped back, and this made the changeling frown.

"Well, why?" Beast Boy asked him with confusion and anger. "I thought that you didn't want to do this to Robin."

"All I want is for things to go back to the way they all used to be!" Jake shouted harshly into Beast Boy's face. The green teen winced at the cold tone in the other teen's voice. "But no matter how much a wish, pray, or plead it will never happen!" Jake then paused and his voice changed into a whisper of pain. "All I can do is plan ahead and hold onto the things I love while hoping that my crappy luck doesn't get even more crappier. Valentine is the only thing that keeps me going, and I'm not going to gamble her life for anyone, including you, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy stared up at Jake with wide eyes. He saw his mistake in this. It was like a stranger trying to tell Beast Boy to beat his team members' lives. That was how important Val was to Jake. Beast Boy's whole life was the Titans. It had been stupid to form this kind of a plan. But Beast Boy loved his team too much to give up here. Robin and Beast Boy might have been complete opposites, but the two were still close. Beast Boy would never give up on him because he knew Robin would go through anything to bring him back.

"Sorry to ask you this, dude," Beast Boy said to Jake suddenly, "But what are the chances that Slade will keep Valentine alive? Slade is ruthless and pure evil. The man always has some twisted solution. And after you go do his final plan for him what will keep him from not killing her?"

Jake looked up to Beast Boy with panic on his face. He had thought the same thing, but just hearing someone who knew Slade well say it was scarier. But things were going to get a lot worse here.

"I have more to say," Beast Boy said with his voice getting sharp. "Robin is my leader, and I love him as if he was my very own brother. The Titans are a family, and when one of them is in trouble we will do anything for that person. I'm going to do anything to get Robin back and to save the lives of the others. If it all comes down to it, I would have to kill you to save them. I'm serious, Jake."

Jake nodded to him. Beast Boy had a lot of power at this point. He had convinced Jake that right now it was smarter to play hero even if he didn't want to do it. If Jake said no right now Beast Boy could tell the Titans and they might not take it as lightly as Beast Boy. Then Slade would find out and Val would soon be dead. Things were getting complicated.

"So we have some common ground now," Jake said. "We both want a loved one back that Slade has. But this is serious because Slade isn't your run of the mill villain."

"I have a pretty good plan so far," Beast Boy said with a tiny smile. "But we might be able to make it better if we put our heads together. Two heads are always better than one."

Jake managed to smile at the changeling. He felt a little better having his secret known to at least one Titan. His guilt was now gone because he was somehow trying to undo his sins, and he was more confident that he would see Valentine again. "We are going to have to be really sneaky," Jake said. "I'm getting a lookout for Slade tonight at another mission for him. This person is going to be watching my every move."

"Yeah," Beast Boy said with his ears dropping a little. "You're defiantly going to have to change this plan. Robin always says that we need to think smarter, not stronger. We are going to have to outsmart Slade for this to work."

"Outsmarting Slade," Jake said with a chuckle. "This might take a while."

- Red X -

"Piece of cake," Red X said to himself while looking into the room with red lasers. The company did not learn from his last break in a few months ago. At that time it had been easy to get in, and it would be just as easy this time. The company holding Xenothium did not update their security system, and that was just plain stupid.

Red X jumped into the room with much acrobatic skills. He landed on two feet and with his arms over his head. He crouched down and made another simple jump to another part of the room and then sprung off the floor with his hands. He barely missed a red laser as he landed in a crouch.

Suddenly the lasers started to move. It seemed that the company had changed the security system, much to the thief's dismay. Red X gritted his teeth together as he had to skip and duck around to adjust to the new setting of the lasers. They finally stopped moving, and the thief breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"I guess I'm not going to memorize this course," Red X said to himself while searching for an opening ahead. He found some small one and quickly jumped to it then searched for another one. In his head he was slowly counting the seconds till the next switch. After 43 seconds the lasers started to change. Since the number of seconds was not even it was hard to keep track of it in his head as the thief carried on.

"Crap!" X harshly whispered to himself. He tried his best to get out of the way of all the lasers, and when they stopped he was pinned in an uncomfortable position by the wall of the dark room. By now sweat pored down the thief's forehead.

"Go!" Red X yelled to himself while snapping into action. He got out of his position and looked for another opening through the lasers. He found one and got to it as quickly as he could while counting the seconds in his head. He was close to the end of the room when his seconds were up, and he had to frantically hop around to get to another position to avoid setting off an alarm that would blow his cover.

When X was out of the room it was easy to get to the next, which was the one with the black, marble floor that was with one step on it would blow you to pieces unless you were fast enough. Last time Red X used Robin as the target as he slipped past the deadly laser. How was he going to do it now?

"Hello, Jake," someone said off to Red X's left. He jumped and looked over to the person standing there watching him. It was girl wearing a gray top and gloves that came up to her elbows. She wore tight black pants with boots. A black mask covered up most of her face, but you could still see the brilliant blue eyes of the girl.

"No way!" Red X said while looking at the girl with his mouth gaping in pure shock. "Jessica?"

"I'm surprised that remember me, Jakey," Jessica said with a sweet and sticky smile spreading over her lips. "Miss me?"

"No," X responded with his voice sounding disgusted with her actions. She had dumped David to go work with a mad man! Who did that? "I knew you were crazy, Jess," he said to her through clenched teeth. "I guess I wasn't that far off. Why are you working for Slade, slut?"

"Oh, touchy, are we?" Jessica asked him while folding her arms in front of her. "You're just upset that I got the good end of the deal and you got the job that sucks." Jake frowned under his mask. Seeing this person was just another spin to this merry go round world of his.

"What angers me more is that you break up with Dave without a word just to go frolicking off with the most craziest, evilest person on the face of the planet," Red X spat out to her. He took out his zip cord from his belt and measured the distance between the platform he was on and the one across from it. "This isn't a game, Jessica," he told her. "Don't you even care that people's lives are the line? Or are you just as sick in the head as Slade is?"

"Oh you must mean your pathetic little sister," Jessica said with a small, mocking laugh. "The one who cries when she thinks no one else is looking because her big brother can't take orders from Slade without giving a stupid fit."

"Don't you dare talk about my sister that way! She's not pathetic!" Red X seethed through clenched teeth as he grabbed Jessica by the front of her shirt. He wanted to vent all his anger from Slade out on this demented girl. Everything Slade had done to him he wanted to do to her because he thought that she was defenseless. Anger was a raging pit of lava in him now, and all he wanted was to pore it all out.

"Whoa, hang on there, Jakey!" Jessica said to him smugly with a smile. "You better keep your hands to yourself. I might not be Slade, but I do have the power to tell him that you're behaving poorly. And that means that I have the power to hurt your little sister. Got it, Jakey?"

Red X released the girl and stepped away slowly while glaring at her through the mask. She smiled sweetly at him and flipped her long, blonde hair behind her shoulders. Jake couldn't believe that his best friend's girlfriend or ex girlfriend was working for Slade and was the one who would be keeping a sharp eye on him for Slade. Could this get any worse? He now had two people on his hate list.

"This should be fun, Jakey!" Jessica said with cheer in her voice. She then smiled slyly and said, "You were always hotter than David."

Jake looked over to the girl smiling at him for a few seconds before saying in a disgusted tone, "You're sick, Jessica. You're evil and sick."

A/N: Well there you readers are! Your hated Jessica is back with a bang! It is strange saying this but I hate this girl with a passion. Well, I'm the one who made her that way, so I should expect that. And now Jake and Beast Boy will have to sneak around to form a plan to take down Slade. And do I see a hint of romance? I just can't wait to type more and see what you readers think of it! I'm excited! So please give a review! Thanks!


	13. Chapter 13 A Fortune's Fool

A/N: I think that I need to give you another appearance of the poor Valentine for you all. She is why this whole fan fiction got started. The girl plays a key part in this. Not very many reviews for my last chapter, so I'll try to make this one better. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I've said this every chapter so far. You guys know it well by now. I don't own them.

Chapter 13 A Fortune's Fool

Valentine woke up from her sleep when the door to her small room opened up and spilled in the bright light from outside. She squinted because her eyes were not used to the light anymore. Darkness surrounded her every day and night nonstop. It always seemed like she was in a deep, dark pit never to be rescued. The only time she saw light anymore was when someone came to feed her.

The poor girl gave a small shiver as she saw that it was Slade who had come to give her some breakfast that early morning. Valentine shifted in her ropes that bound her hands and feet together. She looked up to Slade boldly when he stood in front of her. She glared at him as he studied her pathetic state.

Slade then bent down to her level and handed her a piece of toast silently. She took it and started to eat it with as much silence. All this time the man stared at her with that one eye showing no emotion whatsoever. It was creepy.

"What do you want?" Valentine spat out at him when she finished the toast. "You're freaking me out, but that's not something new."

"Why does your brother screw up his whole life just for the sake of yours?" Slade asked her suddenly. His voice didn't have any curious or confused tone in it. He just wanted to know why for some strange reason.

"Why don't you ask that to him yourself?" Valentine answered him quickly. Really, she didn't know why Jake was doing all this just for her. He was going against all his morals so she could be safe. She felt kind of guilty because she might not do what her brother was doing just for Jake's safety. Don't get her wrong. She would do it all, but he was doing it with no hesitation. It would take more than a threat of taking her brother's life for her to do all that.

"You don't know?" Slade asked her. "You have no idea why he keeps going?"

Valentine stayed quiet as she looked to the floor. She kind of knew why. She was too young to get to know her parents. Jake was almost in his teens when they died. It had been so hard on him. He resumed the role of parent and older brother in only a few hours. Valentine knew that she was like his sister and almost daughter to him. She was the only loved one he ever had in his life now. He didn't want to lose the last important thing.

"No," Slade said while giving her a glass of water. "You know exactly why."

- James -

James knocked on Robin's door at around six or seven in the morning. A small box was in one of his hands, and he handled it with great care. He looked down the hallway both ways cautiously to make sure no one really noticed him. Slade was no where in sight, so that must be a good sign. But James couldn't be too sure. Slade was one smart dude that shouldn't be taken lightly.

"Come in," James heard Robin yell to him from behind the door. The man came in quickly and was amazed that the teen was ready as ever for his mission. Robin was sitting on his bed looking over the file of the man he had to kill. It was information about the place and security.

"Hey, kid!" James said with his voice showing some pretend excitement for the teen. "I'm guessing that you didn't get very much sleep last night."

Robin gave a small laugh while looking up at him. "I guess I'm becoming an insomniac," he said with a sigh. "I don't want to screw this mission up. Master says that this is very important, and I don't want to disappoint him." He was only half lying to James. Yes, he wanted to please him. But the other reason was because he was feeling…strange around the man now. He couldn't describe the feelings he had when around Slade. He just wanted to get some alone time.

"Yeah," James said with a fake smile. "I just want to give you a good luck present," he said while shrugging his shoulders. He held out the small box to Robin and saw the teen look confused. "It won't bite, kid," James said with a laugh. "You look like you can't trust it."

"This better not be something that pops out at me and makes me scream," Robin said with a sly smile. "I can never be too sure with a crazy teacher like you, James."

James laughed again and handed the box over to him. "I swear that it's not that," James said. He sat down next to the teen and said, "Just don't open it till you are on the plane."

There was a small silence as Robin looked at the small box carefully and handled it in his hands like it was something extremely fragile. He then looked up to James and said quietly, "Thanks."

"No problem," James said with a wide smile on his face. He got up to leave but almost slammed into Slade. He quickly put on his brakes and said, "Whoa didn't see you there, Slade." He then whispered loudly into his ear so that Robin could hear him, "And you can stop putting those pills into the kid's drink. He's already crazy enough."

Robin put the box into his backpack while watching them with a grin. The two opposites were at it once again. He watched as James left the room after giving Robin a friendly wink. Slade rolled his eye and looked back down to Robin sitting on his bed.

"Can we go now?" Robin asked him while zipping up his backpack. He got off his bed and put on his backpack with a deep sigh. He stared at his wall in deep thought as his smile slowly faded.

Slade caught his mood shift and started to get worried. Robin was thinking too hard about this again. The boy had presented his problem over the matter in combat practice the other day. When he had said yes to the final challenge it felt like nothing, but after a day of dwelling on it, killing a person seemed kind of scary. He wasn't so sure of himself anymore. Slade had ordered him to forget the person and only dwell on his mission. After this first kill everything would be fine.

"Don't forget what we talked about, Robin," Slade told his apprentice sternly. He then smiled a little under his mask while reassuring him. "Feeling nervous is natural, though. It will give you the thrill and make you strive to keep going during your kill. You will learn to love it."

"Yeah," Robin said while turning around to face his master. He gave a small, forced laugh while saying, "I guess it's just nerves."

"Ready?" Slade asked him.

Robin gave him a cocky smile and said, "More than ever!"

- Robin -

With a heavy sigh, Robin fell into his first class seat in the plane on its way to Lima. He had just stood in line for hours, and when he left Slade the nerves were taking complete control over his body. He just needed to relax. The teen smiled slightly to himself while settling into his big seat. First class all the way! He could get used to going on missions. This thrilling feeling was something he was starting to love just like Slade said he would.

The plane took off and had been in the air for a few hours till Robin finally remembered the box James had given him. He whacked his forehead when he remembered and took it out quickly. The man sitting beside him in the window seat glanced to the box and then went back to reading his paper.

The box was simple leather and looked to be a giant ring box. Robin opened it slowly and saw a note on the top of some other things. He picked it up with his eyebrows rising in interest and wonder. He quickly read it with confusion sweeping over his face. It said…

_Dear Robin,_

_I know that what I'm about to write to you is going to seem strange, but please bear with me. You are not the apprentice of Slade. You are really part of a superhero team called the Teen Titans and they live in the USA in Jump City. Really, you're the leader of this team. Slade just wants you on his side because you're a great fighter and some other reasons I don't know. But Slade made another kid switch places with you in Jump City so that is why your team is not looking for you. I had to erase your whole memory to fool Slade that I was for him. But I'm really a spy for the CIA and have been with Dragon Academy for years giving information to the CIA. I have two people at Pulcallpa that will tell you where to go so we can get you back to your team. I hope this stuff clears things up for you and gives you back the memory you lost. Have any questions then just call me on my cell phone. I'm sure Slade gave you a communicator before leaving. I hope you make it back!_

_Your Friend, James_

Robin read and reread the letter about five times to try and grasp any familiar information. It seemed like what James had said was true, and Robin so desperately wanted to be because everything seemed to fit. He had suddenly woken up completely confused about small details here and there. He also felt weird around Slade sometimes as if he didn't belong there, and also him feeling bad about killing the man for his mission. His scattered and mixed up puzzle pieces were finally placed together in his head.

But something was wrong. James said he would get his memory back, but he wasn't getting anything. The emptiness was still there inside him. Maybe James was just pulling his leg again. But would James be this evil? Robin was just now even more confused.

Robin put down the note and started to go through more things in the box. The first few things were articles about the superhero team. The last things were pictures of his team members. He picked up the first one that was of a cyborg. His smile was friendly and something snapped in Robin's head.

"Cyborg!" Robin breathed quietly out the name. He gave a small gasp while covering his mouth with his hand in surprise. How did he remember that name? He had seen this person before?

The next one was of another teen with green fur and big eyes that sparkled with mischief. He had on a goofy smile that would make anyone laugh. "Beast Boy," Robin said to himself with a nod. How did he know all these names?

The third picture showed a girl that looked depressed and dark. A blue cape covered her whole body and she was glaring at the camera with those violet eyes that showed no emotion. "Raven," Robin said with a frown. This was just too confusing. He almost didn't want to see the next picture. But something inside of him pushed him on.

"Starfire!" Robin said as he stared at the last picture of the beautiful alien girl. She was smiling shyly at the camera and waving to it innocently. He seemed to know this one the best. He knew that he knew these people somehow, but he could not come up with at least one memory to back it up. He had all this information about his true self, but with no proof it was pointless.

Robin grabbed his communicator and quickly dialed up James's number with tears of weariness and the utter most confusion threatening to escape his eyes. He commanded his emotions to leave him when the voice of his teacher came on the phone, cheery as ever.

"_Oh hey, Robin! How is the plane trip? I'm sure first class is pretty cool."_

"I opened up the box," Robin said quietly as he held up all the photos of his so-called "friends".

"_Oh,"_ James said. _"Why are you calling me, Robin? Do you remember anything?"_

"Nothing!" Robin yelled into his phone. The man next to him jump in fright of the teen's sudden out burst and glared at him. Robin ignored the man as he waited for James to answer.

"_What? What did you remember?"_

"Nothing," Robin repeated with confusion in his voice. "I don't know what you're talking about. How can I know these people all my life when I can't come up with one, single memory of them? Why can't I remember?" He lightly pounded the table in front of him in frustration and this got the man next to him to scoot a few inches away while glancing at Robin every now and then.

"_Robin,"_ James said quietly. Robin couldn't see the pain on his face as he said, _"I'm sorry. I don't know what to do now. Please forgive me for doing this to you."_

"I know what to do," Robin said with his voice having a dark tone to it. "I'm calling Slade and demanding for an answer. No more lies."

"_Oh no!"_ James yelled back at Robin quickly. _"You will blow my cover. He can't know that you know what's going on. Robin! Don't you dare hang up on me! Listen to…"_

Robin hung up with a disgusted look on his face. He wanted answers NOW! James brought this upon himself when he gave this box to Robin. The teen was now pissed and not ready to give up on getting this memory of his back.

- James -

"CRAP!" James yelled loudly from where he was in the cafeteria when Robin hung up on him suddenly. He frowned deeply as he quickly dialed up Slade before Robin could. He smiled a little when he heard Slade pick up.

"_Hess?"_ Slade asked him with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Oh, Slade!" James said with pretend joyfulness in his voice. He quickly got up out of his seat and threw away his trash while talking to the man. "I just called to see…um…if Robin made it to…the airport."

Slade seemed very skeptical as he answered, _"It went well."_

"Cool," James said, trying his best to give himself some time. He quickly walked to the doors of the cafeteria while saying, "That's cool. You know what? I totally forgot what I was going to say next. Don't you hate it when that happens?"

James walked through the doors and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Slade standing there. That one cold eye of the man narrowed dangerously at James as they both hung up. He opened his mouth to say something to Slade, but he was cut off when his cell phone rang.

"I have to take this," James said to Slade with a sly smile. Slade watched him leave closely. He knew that James was hiding something at this very moment. He slowly started to follow the man silently. He wouldn't get away with whatever he was doing. Slade would make sure of that.

James opened up his phone and heard Robin yell at him, _"What the heck are you trying to do here, James? I'm sick of being left in the dark. Let me call Slade! No more games!"_

"Fine," James yelled back. He started to run down the empty halls of the Academy. He heard footsteps behind him, and a look of panic crossed his face for a few seconds as he picked up the pace quickly. "Go call him, Robin. But he's going to come after you no matter what, and you will be stuck being his apprentice for the rest of your life. Or you can just go ahead and kill this man for your mission. Those two options have the same ending. Life with Slade."

"_Stop confusing me!"_ Robin demanded harshly. _"What else can I do? I can't trust anyone now. Not you or Slade. I have nowhere to go at this point."_

"Go to Pulcallpa, Robin," James said firmly. He flung himself into a boy's bathroom and said to the teen, "Act like nothing has happened. I'm on your side. I want to help you get your old life back. I can't do that if you don't trust me. Two of my people will be there to help you even if you want them to or not. Please, kid, trust me again. I won't let you down."

"_I got to go, James,"_ Robin said after a small pause. _"Slade's trying to call me. And the man next to me is looking scared."_

"Robin, no!" James said but was too late once again. He gave a small, frustrated grunt while going into a stall.

Slade burst into the room and looked around in search for James. He heard a flush from a toilet. A young man walked out of the stall. His dark brown hair hung in his face and hid his green eyes. The man wore the Dragon Academy uniform. He walked past Slade and smiled a little while nodding to him as his own form of greeting.

The man started to wash his hands and kept a sharp eye on Slade in the mirror as the other man searched the whole bathroom for James silently. The man looked back down to his hands and looked back up to see Slade standing right behind him. Somehow Slade knew it was James.

The man jumped a little from surprise and turned around while saying, "Dude. What is your problem?"

"You mess up my plan, James," Slade whispered harshly down to the man, "I mess up yours." Slade threw his fist back, and James (in his other form) stopped it from hitting him by holding it above his face with two hands. The two had the same strength as they struggled for power. Slade smiled evilly as he pressed a button on his wristband of the hand in James hands. A purple mist came out of it and James had no time to cover his mouth.

"That's low!" James said while letting go of Slade's fist as the stuff quickly took over his body. He blacked out, and the back of his head hit the sink before he collapsed on the tiled floor.

Slade stood over the unconscious body and watched as the young man transformed back into his original from. James had been a very cleaver opponent. He befriended Robin from the start, and with his always joking attitude almost tricked Slade. But Slade knew a man's true colors from just one look at them. Too bad James never knew that. He would now have to pay the deadly price.

* * *

James slowly opened up his heavy eyes with a wince as his head gave him a dose of extreme jolt of pain. He looked around the place he was sitting in while slowly taking it all in. The big room was dark and ominous. The air in it was steamy and humid and instantly made beads of sweat drip down James's forehead. Pipes lined the walls and stuck up randomly through the floor or ceiling. They must have been under the school in the boiler room or something.

"Where am I?" James asked himself. He tried to get up even though his head kept protesting against every move. James frowned deeply when he realized that he was handcuffed to one of the big pipes in the room. He leaned his head against the warm pipe while panting, as his stomach took a dramatic spin.

The man leaned one way as his stomach said no to his lunch. He threw up on the dirty floor next to him as his head spun out of control. He was so dizzy and weak. He couldn't quite remember how or why he was here. He was in a miserable state.

"Hello, James," Slade said suddenly from in the dark. A faint light turned on above the tied up man, and now James could clearly see the villain.

"Slade," James growled in anger as his memory came back from just looking at the mad man. His hands behind his back formed into tight fists as he kept glaring at Slade. "Let me go! This is stupid! You have no reason to keep me here."

"Really?" Slade asked him. His voice had a hint of triumph in it. He walked up to James calmly with his hands behind his back in his usual, relaxed stance. He looked down at James with mild interest in his eye. In the inside he was loving this moment. He very much enjoyed seeing the strong fall under his power.

James gave a deep sigh while his brain tried to figure out what Slade had just said. This was different. His brain couldn't keep up with everything, and it was frustrating for James. He felt lost and confused inside. He finally looked up to Slade standing beside him and asked, "What do you want?"

"Look at you, James," Slade said with a wicked laugh. He lightly kicked the man's leg. "Oh how you have fallen." He bent down to James head and watched the man glare back at him with fury and rage burning in his eyes. Slade went on and said, "You have information that I want and need. I'll give you a choice, James, because I think we can both be gentlemen."

"What are you talking about, Slade?" James asked Slade after a small pause of silence as James picked through what Slade had just said. Boy, was this stuff making his brain go slow! But he tried his best to seem confused as to what the man was saying.

"No more petty lies, James!" Slade snapped at him with his eye narrowing dangerously at the man. "You can tell me everything about what you plan to do with Robin and what you have already told him right now peacefully, or we can do this the hard way. Please don't go all superhero on me, James. I'm saying this because it's a waste of time on my part and you won't win, I can swear to you that. I'm not someone who gives up easily."

"I guess we have at least one thing in common, Slade," James spat back at him. "I don't give up, period. Do your worst."

Slade stood back up with a frown planted on his face. He gave a deep sigh before asking, "Tell me, James, have you ever read the play _Romeo and Juliet_ by William Shakespeare?" The two were gentlemen enough to go about this in a nice manner.

"Pure torture," James said with a cocky smile. "Tenth grade English class. My evil teacher was Mrs. Hall. Now that I think about it, you and she have many similar qualities."

"You have a good memory," Slade said while returning the witty and quick comment with an unseen cocky smile that was hidden behind his mask. "So you must remember the plot and characters in the play. Do you remember the one line Romeo says right after he kills Tybalt, and do you know the meaning of it?"

"O, I am a fortune's fool," James recited as his smile faded. He kind of knew where Slade was taking this. "He meant that he was fate's fool or that fate was against him. It was said that fate had killed both him and Juliet at the end and they had no way of stopping it from happening."

"Good," Slade said with a nod. "Now, do you believe in fate, Mr. Hess?"

"I believe that God has chosen my path for life," James said proudly. "I follow only him. But he knows this world he has created and controls it. Everything happens for a reason. So I guess that would be kind of like fate. So to answer your question, Slade, I do believe in fate."

"So you're a religious man," Slade said. He bent back down and stuck his face into James's. Slade then looked down to the man's chest and saw the small cross around his neck and smiled evilly under his mask. He grabbed the cross and yanked it off the man's chest. James didn't protest, but his cold look could kill.

Slade dangled the cross in front of James's face. He then took out a picture from his belt while saying, "Maybe, James, your God is turning fate against you." He put the picture next to the cross and saw the man's eyes widen in surprise and fright.

"Abe!" James whispered to himself as he stared at the picture of his son. He was wearing the same necklace Slade was dangling in front of him right now. It was obvious to Slade that the two were father and son. A sick feeling started to form in the bottom of James's stomach as he saw his problem now. What a mess he had made!

A/N: Was that a good little twist for you guys? This chapter took a long time to do because I had two options for it. I could either go with this plot and have Robin not remember his past or do have him remember and carry on with the fic quickly. Both would end up with the same ending, but this plot seemed a lot better than my first idea. I hoped you guys liked it. Please review! Thanks!


	14. Chapter 14 True Sides of the Crazy Ones

A/N: I'm sorry to leave you guys at Robin and go back to Jake's hectic life for now, but this chapter is split in half. Thanks for those wonderful reviews that keep me going. So far this fic has been fun to make and from your reviews and hits it has to be a score! But here is your chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yes, I do own the Teen Titans…I mean no. Hey! A girl can dream can't she?

Chapter 14 The True Sides of the Crazy Ones

His gloved hand tightened its grip around the round Xenothium container as he ran down the dark hallway. Red X looked behind his shoulder and saw that Jessica was right behind him with a wicked smile on her face like always. Red X looked back to where he was running and sharply sprinted around a corner. The alarm was blaring into his ears, and a warning light flashed every so second to show him his way in the color of blood. He felt like it was an omen or something, but that thought was quickly pushed out of his head.

The two rounded another corner and found themselves in a long hallway with very high ceilings that looked like they were made for giants. Many large clear glass windows were to their left and were put together as a makeshift wall. It was obvious that this was a main hallway that a lot of business people walked down. An elevator was placed in the middle of this hallway, and Red X heard the ding of the bell on it as it reached their floor. The doors opened to reveal three police men ready with laser guns. That only meant that they had come themselves instead of calling the Teen Titans. Even though Red X was glad they hadn't called them, he still thought the police were stupid to try and take him down themselves.

The dark hallway was lit up suddenly by a flash of light from the outside as the weather turned from bad to worse as if foreshadowing the outcome of the fight that was sure to come between the police and thieves. Rain relentlessly splattered against the glass in big, fat drops. The strong winds could even be heard above the alarm going off inside.

Red X stopped in his tracks as he saw the police men aim at them. Jessica did what he did and glanced over to him with a sharp look in her eyes that questioned his move. X right away knew that these police men were young and inexperienced. They didn't know the full threat of Red X yet. He would only have to teach them a lesson and tie them up when he was done like always. He just didn't want them to call the Teen Titans.

"Follow my lead," Red X whispered to Jessica. He smiled slightly under his mask while taking out three red X's from what seemed to be nowhere. That cocky smile quickly faded as he saw Jessica shake her head slightly as she glared through her own black mask at the police men.

"I only listen to Slade," Jessica whispered back to him. The police men just stood there frozen with fright as they shouted some pathetic orders to the two thieves arguing over a simple matter.

"Don't do this, Jess," Red X hissed at her harshly. He kept his eyes pinned on the police.

"Slade told me to team up with you, Jake," Jessica said while suddenly relaxing. "He wants you and me to become the top villains for the Teen Titans."

"Damn him!" Red X whispered to himself. "He knows that I'm already pushing myself just being both Red X and Robin."

"Who's cares about your needs, Jakie," Jessica said with a simple shrug. "Right now Slade needs money for the next part of his plan, and you are just another pawn of his and so am I. But there is a difference between you and me. I actually like working for him. Pity you're not enjoying this as much as I am."

"I'm not killing those people," Red X said to her. "As long as they don't get in my way then I'm fine. You and not even Slade will make me kill these innocent people."

"Oh, you don't have to, X boy," Jessica said with her trademark evil smile crossing her lips. "I will."

Red X had no time to register what she had just said before an invisible force knocked him to his butt and he dropped the Xenothium container. He gave a wince as his head slammed onto the floor. But the teen was quickly to his feet and running after the crazy girl to somehow stop her.

"Jessica, no!" Red X yelled frantically at her. He was barely three feet from her when she suddenly turned toward him with her eyes glowing a brilliant, bright blue that could chill anyone's blood. She quickly stuck her palm out at him and pushed it toward him.

That invisible force suddenly hit the thief and made him go airborne for a few seconds. X cringed while flying in a big arch in the air as the force kept him from gaining balance and landing properly. The teen landed on his back, yards away from where Jessica was beating up the three police men ruthlessly. Red X rolled a few feet more with winces of pain and frustration.

Cries of torment could be heard in the long hallway as the girl kicked and punched the living day lights out of the men. Shots were randomly fired at her, but she always seemed to dodge them. She glanced back to see Red X slowly get to his two unsteady feet with some difficulty. Her move had only taken him down for a few seconds.

Jessica finally decided that her new comrade would have to see first hand her true power. She took off one of her gloves while letting the men recoup for a few seconds. She saw Red X watching her while trying to regain his senses a few yards away. She smiled while grabbing the throat of one of the men.

"Die!" she whispered harshly at the man with a sick and wicked smile on her lips as her eyes glowed a deep blue. The man could not even make a sound of anguish as the blood in him started to burst through his veins everywhere in his body and start internal bleeding. He finally was able to make one loud scream of defeat as he exploded from the inside. Hot, crimson colored blood splattered over the walls around the destroyed body. A spray of the blood hit Jessica and the two other poor men staring at her in horror.

The breath was caught in Red X's throat as fear took over his body for a few seconds. So that was why she didn't want anyone to touch her skin. That was what she did to people when her bare skin touched another's. The girl could do that same thing she did to that man to him. This whole thing was for show for him. Things just got more interesting.

Red X shook off his fear as he replaced it with some anger so he would get motivated to attack her. He started to sprint toward her while barring his teeth. She loomed over the other two men pinned up against the window of the hallway to try to avoid her. Her full attention was on them and not the thief coming up on her.

A battle yell echoed around the hallway as Red X struck Jessica on the side of her head with his foot. He sent the girl to the floor. She cried out with a small yell of surprise and pain. Her long, blonde hair spiraled around her head and covered up the look of pure anger on the girl's face.

"Don't attack me ever again!" Jessica yelled loudly while quickly getting to her feet and pushing both of her palms at Red X as her hair started to glow blue and hover around her head. A lot of her power was going into this move. She didn't know that she was not only moving Red X, but she was controlling everyone except herself in the hallway.

All three people were slammed against one of the big windows, and a huge crack traveled up to the top of it from where there was an impact. One man was killed instantly and slummed over dead in the small hold on his body. The other man cried out as some of his ribs were very close to being crushed. Red X had the same problem, but he only winced while squeezing his eyes shut to block the pain out of his mind.

"I'm in control now!" Jessica shouted to him while pushing one more time with her powers.

_SMASH!_

The glass shattered and sent thousands of pieces of razor sharp edged debris everywhere. The pieces cut and sliced through Red X's suit and lodged into his back as he fell into darkness. A look of pure panic flashed onto his face as he kept falling. The building was around 20 stories high, and they were on the 18th floor. He would be dead if he didn't do something.

The teen first didn't know what to do. The pain in his body and dreadful screaming of the other man falling with him blocked his mind so that he couldn't think straight. You would think that everything would seem to go in slow motion, but for Red X it was going light speed. There was only darkness all around and confusion sweeping over his mind. But the thief finally pulled himself together and gritted his teeth through the discomfort.

Red X pulled out his rip cord from his belt and threw it at one of the windowsills. He was sharply jerked to a sudden stop that forced a cry of pain from the boy. He dangled there for a few seconds to catch his breath and gain his senses once again. The hard rain soaked his suit and made him shiver in the cold of the night.

He closed his eyes while wincing again. His gloved hands clenched the cord suspending him above the ground a long ways away from him. If you looked real hard you could see the two deformed bodies of the police men lying dead on the cement beneath them. A pool of red washed with rain water was flowing under them. Red X tried to get the vision of them out of his mind as he kept hanging onto his cord.

"Remember your reason," Jake whispered softly to himself. He could barely hear himself over the howling wind and pounding rain. Oh how he wanted to be home right now with Valentine. He felt so weak and defeated that his mind and body could almost not take it anymore. He wanted to cry it all out right then and there, but that would be stupid and foolish on his part. He had to tough it out. He had to keep going.

Suddenly he started to glow a faint blue. Red X gave a sharp yell of surprise as he started to float into the air and slowly fly upwards. His body stopped in midair when he was at the smashed window where Jessica was. She stood in the hallway with one hand stretched out in his direction to keep him there. The boy had no idea where she had suddenly gotten this tremendous power, but he now knew that she had complete control for this moment on.

"How do you like me now, Jakie?" Jessica asked him with a smile. She pulled back her arm a little and Red X flew a little closer to her with a grim look on his face under his mask. It was time to play the game by her rules, or he could end up losing bad. He would have to give her what she wanted.

"Okay, I get it Jess. You're in control," he said to her. "Just don't do what you did to that guy to me." He thanked the Lord for giving him such an acting gift. He made it sound like he was scared out of his wits of her and that he was pretty much giving up his life. He smiled slyly under his mask when she bought the lame lie and nodded her head to him. _Not the brightest light bulb, now are you?_ He thought wickedly.

- Beast Boy -

He paced the dark basement with a look of deep worry planted on his face. The green teen was waiting for Red X to get back from his outing. The two had planned on meeting in the basement because it was the only place in the Tower that had no cameras whatsoever for some reason. Jake had told the changeling to maybe bring a first aid kit because sometimes when Red X stole something he could get hurt. Beast Boy didn't know how much he would have to use it that night.

Beast Boy's ears perked up as the door at the top of the metal steps opened up and Red X stumbled in. The changeling gave a small scream of alarm as he saw the other teen stop halfway down the stairs and breathing hard. Beast Boy turned on all the lights from where he was downstairs and sprinted up the steps to help out his new friend.

"Dude!" Beast Boy said while helping Red X down the stairs slowly. They walked over to a wooden table, and Red X sat down and pulled off his mask with a wince. Beast Boy fumbled with the first aid as he set it on the table next to Jake.

"First my back," Jake breathed faintly. "Had a run in with a window."

"Holy crap, dude!" Beast Boy said with wide eyes as he saw the teen's suit. It was covered with blood where the sharp glass pieces had lodged themselves in. The changeling took out a pair of tweezers and pulled out one of the pieces. Jake gave a cry of pain but did not stop Beast Boy as he continued. As he went on, the two talked.

"So tell me in detail what happened," Beast Boy said while pulling out another shard of glass.

"Slade commanded some crazy and insane girl with a heck of a lot of power to team up with me and keep an eye on me," Jake said with a sigh then winced as another glass piece was taken out of his back. "She is too power hungry, and boy does she want to kill me. But it was Slade's orders for her not to. It seems like Slade is the only one she will listen to. So I can't do anything to change her mind. All I can do is suck up to her till we start our plan which we might need revise with her around."

"Well, that's just…peachy," Beast Boy said sarcastically. He started to dress the small wounds on Jake's back in silence. He glanced up to Jake a few times and saw that the teen's blue eyes narrowed as if angry. The changeling wondered what was going through his head at this moment. The green teen kind of smiled at how much Jake looked like Robin right now. It was almost impossible to tell them apart at times.

"Why are you smiling?" Jake suddenly asked him with confusion in his voice. "Things just got more tricky, and you're smiling for some stupid reason. I don't know about you, but I'm worried about our lives."

"You just remind me of Robin so much," Beast Boy mumbled with a shrug.

Jake gave a long sigh and said quietly, "I'm not even trying to be clone boy right now and I'm doing my job. Slade sure did pick a good one." He gave a disgusted look when he said the mad man's name. His hatred for him was getting more and more intense by the second.

"We better get to sleep," Beast Boy finally said. "How 'bout we meet here after dinner tomorrow."

"Okay," Jake said with a small nod. Beast Boy started to leave but stopped when Jake called his name. He looked over to the teen with a curious look in his deep, green eyes. "Thanks, BB, for all this," Jake finally said with a faint smile on his face. "I just want to tell you that I'm with this plan all the way now. We're getting Robin and Val back." Beast Boy could only put on a big grin that went from ear to ear because he was so happy.

- Robin -

It was night when Robin's plane landed in Lima, Peru. He hadn't slept very much for the past two days, but his mind and body just seemed to keep going. The teen got off the plane with his one backpack. His eyes wide with wonder. Going from Venice to Lima was like going to a whole new world. Everyone spoke Spanish and every sign or billboard was in the same Latin based language that Robin seemed to pick up right away.

_Sense when did I know Spanish?_ He thought to himself while asking where the plane to Pulcallpa was in Spanish to one man. He just shrugged his shoulders and headed to the other side of the airport where his plane would be taking off.

Robin felt like he was half there as he walked through crowds of people. He couldn't help but wonder what his other life was like or if he really did want it back. He was trying to think logically. If he just stayed with Slade he would be well taken care for, but there was the whole assassin thing that he didn't like for some strange reason. But if he went with James's plan he could wind up killed or with a life he didn't even know about. Right now he didn't know what the think. He would have to make up his mind soon, though, because he couldn't go on like this for forever.

The kick to the head came from absolutely nowhere. One second Robin was briskly walking to his gate, and then the next, a foot collided with the back of his head and sent the boy head first to the tiled floor of the airport. Robin landed on his hands and knees in a daze as his head spun out of control.

"What was that for?" Robin yelled angrily to whoever did that to him. He turned around to his back and his anger turned into surprise when he saw the Slade look a like robot standing over him. He had to have a double take on the thing. It kind of looked like Slade, but it was defiantly not his Master. Then had Slade told this robot to attack him?

Things came at Robin fast, and he decided that Slade had figured out that James had tried to give Robin his memory back and wasn't taking any chances with him. It was at this time that Robin saw a side of his Master that he didn't know. Did he really want to be his apprentice? The answer to that question was quickly turning into a no.

"Oh crap!" Robin said quickly while rolling out of the way of a strong punch the robot had aimed at his head. The boy was on his feet in a flash. He didn't waste time fighting the robot. He sprinted down the hall to his gate. He jumped over suitcases and zigzagged in and out of crowds while saying he was sorry in Spanish and sometimes Italian because his mind was wrapped up in other things more important than knowing what language he was speaking in.

Robin glanced behind him to see the robot following close behind him still. The teen looked for anything that would be able to hide him. Why was Slade so desperate to catch him? Why was he so special? He didn't think he was the best fighter when he was going against Slade. Most of the time he was just a confused mess. Why?

Suddenly Robin saw his gate and saw a few people going into the plane that would take him to Pulcallpa. His face lit up as he saw this. The robot wouldn't be able to go on the plane without a passport or ticket. He was home free! He pulled off his backpack while still running to the desk. He pulled out his passport and ticket with a smile on his face.

"I guess I made it!" he said to the lady at the desk. She just shrugged her shoulders as she ripped off some of his ticket and didn't even care about looking at his passport. Not the best kind of security when you were in a third world country, but Robin didn't care too much at this moment. "Hey, thanks!" Robin said to the lady quickly before running to the door just as he saw the robot appear from the crowd behind him.

Robin gave a deep sigh while walking down the small hallway that lead to the plane. He took out his communicator as he took his seat next to a window. He stared out the glass and watched the city lights of Lima and the lights of the runways blink and light up the black sky. He then looked at the communicator in his hand as his mind made up what to do. Maybe if he just called Slade things could be settled peacefully. He finally dialed up Slade's number with another sigh.

"_Buongiorno, _Robin," Slade said to the teen as his picture flickered onto the communicator's screen.

Robin frowned deeply at how Slade was acting towards him. "Was it you who told that freaky robot to attack me?" he demanded with his voice sharp.

"Calm yourself, Robin," Slade said while putting a hand up. "_Pazienza_. I'll explain things to you in due time. You don't always have to have answers right away."

"No," Robin snapped back quickly as his eyes narrowed. "I'm not a very patient person, Slade. I want to know what is going on. I thought that you were my Master, but I'm now starting to have second thoughts. James said you whipped my whole memory, and I want to know why. Why, Slade?"

"Don't use that tone with me, Robin," Slade ordered his apprentice with some harshness in his voice for once. "It was all for a good reason. But that man was stupid to try to give you back your memory. But from the looks of everything, it seems like you haven't gained it back…yet."

"Yet!" Robin yelled in surprise. "So it's true that I did have another life that I know nothing about! But you're saying that I might get it back?"

"Yes," Slade said with a steady nod. "But once that happens you will run. So I'm bringing you back to Dragon Academy before that happens. That is why my robot is after you."

Something similar to a growl escaped Robin's mouth as he glared at the picture of Slade in his communicator's screen. The selfish beast! This whole thing was because Slade wanted him for his apprentice. He was going through so much confusion and misfortune just because of Slade's needs and wants. He was now disgusted with him.

"Well, I'm going to Pulcallpa, Slade," Robin said to the man with the anger rising up in him. "I ditched your stupid robot. I'm going to get my memory back, and I'm leaving you. I don't want to be your stupid apprentice. Get it?"

Slade's one eye narrowed at the teen as a flash of anger and frustration flew up in him. Even without his memory of his stupid friends he still didn't want to be his apprentice. But Robin was still in his hands. After a few years he would see things his way. That reminder made Slade smile slyly under his mask. He was winning this war. He didn't need to be angry with him.

"My dear boy," Slade said with that creepy calmness in his voice, "You don't have a choice over the matter."

As if on cue, Robin noticed that the robot had boarded the plane he was on. His jaw dropped slightly as his eyes widened in fear of being defeated by this mad man. "Curse the security of this airport!" Robin whispered to himself as the robot spotted him and started to walk down the aisle toward him. "Crap!" Robin muttered as he looked back to his communicator. "How did he get a ticket?" he asked Slade.

"This has been planned out for a very long time, Robin," Slade said. "My plan is etched into my mind down to the very last detail of a plane ticket to a small, pathetic Peru town called Pulcallpa. I have at least five other backup plans if anything went wrong. Getting a seating ticket next to yours was just one of them. Enjoy your flight, my apprentice. I will look forward to seeing you back in Italy. _Arrivederci_." And then the screen went black.

"No, Slade!" Robin yelled back to him. He looked up and saw the robot. It sat down next to him, and Robin was about to punch it in the face to make a quick escape, but Slade had also predicted this from the protesting teen. The barrel of a pistol was shoved into Robin's stomach, and this stopped the boy right away. It felt like his stomach was tied into a knot as he was forced to sit back in his seat.

Robin's face was only a look of worry as the plane started to move. He barely listened to the safety instructions of the flight attendant. The robot kept the pistol rested at his side. What was he going to do? He had finally seen the true side of Slade, and he hated it. He didn't want to turn into that kind of man. He now wanted his memory and freedom back.

But just wasting a whole plane trip away by worrying over the matter of his future was pointless. The teen's mind quickly went into deep thinking. He was smart and quick. He would have a plan by the time they landed in Pulcallpa. Slade hadn't won just yet.

A/N: that is all for now, folks! I'll be working hard on this fic for my six day Thanksgiving vacation that is coming up soon. So you might see another update soon. But I might be working on other fics and doing other things, so don't think that I'm defiantly going to update. But please give a review! Thanks!


	15. Chapter 15 Gunpoint

A/N: I took a whole week off from writing because my brain just shut down for any kind of writing, so I'm sorry if I caused any of you guys pain while I didn't update in forever. But I read a lot over the week and formed new ideas and tried to improve my writing by any way possible. I still need reviewers to express their thoughts to me. I want to improve my skills. So give me any kind of advice or criticism you got. But enjoy the chapter! I made it longer to make it up to you guys.

Disclaimer: This is getting old. I don't own anything from the Teen Titans.

Chapter 15 Gunpoint

The cuffs were rubbing and cutting into his wrists that he almost absentmindedly struggled in for the hundredth time. James gave a small wince as the sharp and tight cuffs drew some blood that added to the small, red puddle forming under his hands. The man looked up and saw that Slade was watching him through the darkness of the steamy room.

Slade was sitting next to his small laptop and was doing something unknown to James. The two men had been down in the boiler room for the whole night and morning with little or no sleep for either of them. Sweat was beading down both of their foreheads now, but both would never admit that they were hot.

The still silence of the room was suddenly broken when James's cell phone went off. The loud, annoying ring of an American song sliced through the dark silence. This made Slade raise an eyebrow in interest. He got up and picked up the cell phone lying next to his laptop, and when he saw who it was he smiled under his mask evilly.

"It's for you," Slade said with his sardonic humor as he looked up to James. The man bit his lower lip because he knew that it was his kids calling him. He wondered how far Slade would go to make him answer it so his kids would not suspect anything. He hadn't told Slade anything yet, but the man knew a lot of things already.

Slade opened up the phone and put it on speaker phone so he could hear the conversation that was sure to come. He then picked up the laser gun that was also sitting next to his laptop and placed the barrel on James's forehead. He then nodded to James to tell him to go on.

James had no doubt that the mad man would pull the trigger at this point. He had been too stubborn and hadn't said anything, so he was someone with no information and easy to dispose of. And James could not bet on his life. If he died his kids would wind up orphans. He couldn't do that to them.

"Daddy!" Sam's voice echoed around the room with cheer in it. "You didn't pick up right away. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

James swallowed a lump in his throat and said with equal cheer, "I'm fine, Sam. I was just in the middle of teaching some students. What about you and Abe?"

"Doing fine, dad!" Abe's voice came through from the other side. "I'm just practicing on Robin's voice right now. I'll have him down by the time the superhero gets here. How's this so far?" The kid's last sentence sounded just like Robin's voice.

James looked up to see Slade raise his eyebrow again in surprise. James swore inside his head that Abe was talking so freely on the phone like this. Slade was figuring out everything now. The man had to shake his head to get back in the game as he said, "It's great! Keep going at it! How 'bout putting your sister on the phone? Love it how you kids share."

"Move, freak!" Sam shouted in the background and suddenly there was a loud bang as the phone was dropped in a fight over it. More immature insults and threats were heard in the background. James gave Slade a guilty smile and mouthed out to him, "Kids." Slade just rolled his eye in frustration.

Finally the phone was won by Sam and she said into it, "What do you need, daddy?"

"I just need to tell you that…um…Robin never was able to get his memory back, so go easy on him when he comes," James said with some hesitation. He and Slade were staring at each other, and it seemed like James was testing his limits on how much he would be able to say to his daughter without Slade blowing his brains out.

"Kay!" Sam said with her always excited voice. "We can handle that. We just called to check up on you. When should we call you next?"

"How about right when you find Robin?" James asked.

"Sounds good," Sam said. "Talk to you then. Love you, daddy." There was a pause and then she added, "And Abe says that he loves you too."

This part made tears come to the father's eyes. "I love you guys, too," he said softly. "Be safe." They both then hung up and there was silence in the room again. Slade stood there with the phone in his hand for a few seconds as he thought over the conversation. James stared at the floor as he silently prayed that his two kids wouldn't get hurt in this fight for the superhero. He wished he hadn't pulled them into this, but he knew that he couldn't change the past.

"So Abe is planning on transforming into Robin?" Slade thought out loud to more himself than James. "I was expecting that from you, James," he said to the man while looking at him with some amusement in his one eye. "You're beginning to become predictable and somewhat boring, Hess. And here I thought you had some big trick up your sleeve. This is becoming a minor detour."

"I fail to see why," James said while glaring up at Slade with his eyes cold and deadly. "Robin said that he didn't want to be your apprentice and he was heading for Pulcallpa. It is kind of obvious that he will escape when he gets there and my plan will just be executed. How will you get Robin back here? It would have been easier to just lie to him and use your well developed talent."

"True," Slade said with a nod. "But I now have two people who know my plans and might not be too afraid at this point to shout their thoughts out to the Titans if something goes wrong. I'll let them play their little game of theirs, and they won't find out my true one till its too late."

"W…what are you going to do with my kids?" James asked the man with dread in his voice. He was extremely scared for their lives now. He had no way of escaping at this point. All he could do was sit there and watch the things unfold.

"The only thing I can do, Hess," Slade said simply. He smiled wickedly under his mask as he answered, "Eliminate them."

- Robin -

Robin stiffly walked down stairs with the robot right beside him. We squinted in the bright light of the South American sun that was blazing down on them in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere. The air was hot and humid. Robin could feel himself sweating already even though he had just gotten off the airplane a few seconds ago. He already missed the AC system. But who was he to complain?

The robot and Robin both stepped onto the dusty and dry ground and headed for the small airport that sat next to the airplane. The engine of the plane still buzzed loudly into the boy's ears, yet he could softly hear the cry of many tropical birds singing away just to make beautiful music together. The rhythmic sound gave the poor teen a small bit of hope in his heart as he kept walking.

The pistol barrel at Robin's side was shoved more into his stomach as the two walked through the open doors of the airport. They were suddenly swept up in a crowd of people all talking and yelling in elegant Spanish that seemed to flow smoothly off all their tongues. Everyone, except the few tourists, had a head full of jet-black hair, and all had deep brown eyes that were full of life. Robin watched a few of them closely and his eyes narrowed in frustration. James had said that someone would be there to help him. How was he going to find this person if almost everyone looked the same?

Things would have to pick up if Robin's plan would be able to happen. He wanted to find the person he had to go with then he would have to disarm the robot. But that would be easy. Slade should have sent a real person to do this job. Men didn't try to make mistakes and were hard on the moral side to kill off. A robot could make mistakes and Robin would have no guilt or pity if he had to kill it. This would be easy when the right time came.

The two walked to another gate silently. Slade had already bought tickets for another flight back to Lima and then to Italy. The man seemed to be three steps ahead in his game of cat and mouse. Robin wondered if Slade had another back up plan if he escaped at this airport. Would he have other robots come for him? What if he was walking into a trap right now? He shook his head to get these worries out of his head and focus on the mission before him.

Robin was forced to sit down at one of the uncomfortable seats next to a gate. The robot sat next to him and they both waited there for a few minutes. Robin's faith in James was quickly slipping away as he counted the minutes that past by. He was starting to lose all hope when a whole hour went by and no one showed up. Surely the person would recognize him!

"You don't look very Peruvian," a man's voice said from behind Robin suddenly. The voice was calm and casual as if he was talking to a friend. "What are you doing way out here, kid?" Robin slowly moved his head a little so he would be able to at least catch a glimpse of the person talking to him. The teen's eyes widened when he saw that the person looked like a younger form of James. Was this his kid?

Robin didn't answer and went straight into action with no warning whatsoever. He relied on his weird yet surprising fast instinct that he assumed he had gotten from being a superhero. A battle yell escaped his mouth as his fist collided violently with the robot's metal mask. A throbbing red mark appeared on Robin's knuckles as he saw that he had created a dent in the robot's mask. He barred his teeth as he got up from his chair. The man next to him looked up at him with wide eyes of surprise.

_Bang!_

The loud shot of the pistol rang out and echoed around the airport gate. Both Robin and the young man winced while looking back to the robot that held the gun up at the ceiling. All chaos brook loose at the sound of gunfire. Screams of fright and terror were heard around the area, and quickly everyone was running around the place to get out of the way of the robot that had the gun now aiming at Robin's head.

Robin moved to get out of the way but stopped and cringed as another thundering shot was heard. It had missed on purpose. More screams ensued. The teen stayed completely still as he stared at the robot standing on the seats and looking down on him. The last two shots had only been warnings. It wouldn't hesitate to shoot him now.

The police were all yelling frantically in Spanish at the robot and Robin. The teen picked up a few lines here and there, but he didn't dare say anything back as he waited for the robot to do something first. The robot slowly got off the chairs and came over to Robin with the gun still pointing at him. It got behind him and shoved the barrel of the gun into the side of the teen's head while he wrapped its other arm around Robin's shoulders. This wasn't how Robin thought it would turn out. Things were quickly going down hill.

A sick feeling started to form at the bottom of Robin's stomach as he was forced to back up at gunpoint. He gave a frustrated grunt while struggling a little in the robot's grip. The hold on his shoulders only tightened and it made the teen stop resisting. He wasn't going anywhere unless this robot told him to.

"_Give me the freaking gun_," the young man hissed harshly in perfect Spanish to one of the police men suddenly. He grabbed the gun out of the guy's hands and barely even took aim at his target before pulling the trigger.

Robin gasped as another shot echoed around the gate that made everyone's ears ring. He was surprised at how swiftly the man had worked, but what did he shoot? Surely he couldn't have gotten the robot dead on without even taking aim first. He got his answer when sparks flew over his head and the robot behind him loosened its grip around his shoulders and slumped to the floor with a bullet hole right in the middle of its head.

"Run!" the young man yelled to Robin in English as he turned him around and pushed him forward. "I have realized that taking a gun away from a police man and firing it is kind of against the rules and a bad idea to anyone who wants to try and do so for now on."

"Definitely James's kid," Robin said with a wry smile coming to his lips. The man only smiled down at Robin. They both sprinted side by side through the airport with some police men chasing them a few strides behind. They rounded a corner and saw that about a dozen policemen were running their way. The men spotted the two running towards them and quickly made a line in the hallway and aimed their guns at Robin and the young man while shouting orders to stop.

"Follow me," the young man said while smiling. He duck rolled on the floor then pushed off at the end of his roll to get more air and distance as he flipped over the line of men. Robin didn't need to do anything to get the same amount of air in his jump. Shots rang out in the hallway as Robin landed in a crouch on the ground behind the policemen and didn't waste time regaining his senses as he took off after the young man.

The two finally made it out of the airport and quickly ducked as more guns were fired in their direction. The young man stopped next to a motorcycle at the curb and shoved a black helmet into Robin's arms without a word. Robin didn't ask questions as he strapped on the protective gear and hopped onto the back of the motorcycle.

Robin wrapped his arms around the man's waist as the guy got on quickly. It was automatic, so they didn't have to waist precious time trying to start it. The engine roared into life and the man took it off neutral and into third gear. The thing took off down the dirt road at what seemed to be light speed. The policemen yelled to each other while getting into their own cars and going after them.

"Where are we going?" Robin shouted above the engine of the motorcycle as they zigzagged through the crowd of other motorcycles and motor taxies. The teen coughed as they raced around a corner and dust was thrown up into the air. It was hard to see anything in the hot dust bowl they were in. There were no paved roads to ride on, so the ride through the small town was bumpy and very hard on the butt.

"To the check point," the young man answered over his shoulder to Robin. "My sister will be waiting there for us. We had planned all planned out. But that robot was not part of it. My dad never said anything about Slade knowing our plans."

Robin opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off when they faintly heard the sirens of the police cars coming up behind them. Robin cursed while glancing behind his shoulder. They drove into a dark alley and came to a sudden stop. They both got off the motorcycle and threw off their helmets. The man led Robin down the wet and creepy alley to where a motor taxi was sitting at the other end.

"Hey, Abe!" a young girl of maybe 12 with glasses said to the man from where she was sitting in the small passenger seat on the motorcycle. (A/N: A motor taxi is just a regular motorcycle with a seat in the back of it that could hold two or three persons. There are so many of them in Pulcallpa that they are like New York City's taxies.)

"Robin, get in with Sam," Abe said quickly to the teen while pointing to the seat on the motorcycle. "Sam, give Robin his clothes and change into a Peruvian woman. I'll drive." Robin watched the two in stunned silence as they morphed into two totally different people. Abe changed into a Peruvian man and hopped onto the motorcycle. Sam changed into a dark skinned Peruvian woman. She handed Robin a red shirt, baggy jeans, a navy blue hat, and dark sunglasses.

"Change quickly," Sam said while getting into the seat. Robin wanted to protest, but he had no choice right now. He threw off his armor and gloves in a rush and took off his tight black shirt that was part of his apprentice outfit. He pulled on his red shirt and put his jeans over his other pants. He gave a sigh while putting the hat on. He ripped off his mask and when he looked up his eyes were hidden behind the sunglasses.

"_Vaya_!" he said to Abe while jumping into the seat next to Sam. He slipped his mask into his jeans pocket and kept his head slightly down as they came out into the sun once again. The three held their breath as three police cars zoomed by them in a search for the exact people they just passed.

"Where are we going now?" Robin said to Sam beside him.

"To the hotel a few blocks away," Sam answered while smiling sweetly at him.

"How did you change into these people?" Robin asked her while throwing his head over to Abe.

"Runs in the family," Sam said with a smile and redness coming to her cheeks. She might have looked like a Peruvian woman, but she sure was acting like a young American girl.

"So does that mean that if you're James's kids then he can morph as well?" Robin asked with confusion sweeping over his face.

"You're definitely the leader of the Titans to put those together," Sam said with a cute giggle. Her voice hadn't changed at all. She saw the deep puzzlement on Robin's face and her smile slipped away from her lips with concern. "Remember anything yet?" she asked him.

"No," Robin answered softly while looking ahead.

"It will come," Sam said sweetly to him. "Just trust your heart till then. It doesn't need a memory to tell you the right way."

- Red X -

The moonless night was pitch-black. No light could be seen in the sky except for the few stars that poked out through the mass of clouds overhead. Red X looked down at the city below him from where he crouched on top of a tall building. The wind picked up and blew into his ears over the sound of the night time business of Jump City. Cars honked and the talk of the people was like a hum from so far away.

Red X gave a long sigh of sadness as he watched all the people below him. He shivered in the coldness of the harsh wind trying to blow him off the building. He then heard one sound that his ears didn't find familiar. He whipped around while taking out two red X's.

"Put the weapons down, Jake," Jessica said with a sticky smile. She waved her hand in front of her and Red X's hand that held his X's was forced to put down his gadgets against his own will. His eyes narrowed at her till she finally let his arm go.

"What do you want, Jessica?" Red X asked her.

"Slade ordered me to keep an eye on you," Jessica said with a shrug. "I can't do that if you leave the Tower. I had to find you. But if I knew you were just going to stand up here for two whole hours I wouldn't have bothered."

Red X turned back around and looked down at the city once again in silence. Jessica walked up to where he was and stood next to him with a disgusted look on her face. She shook her head as she watched the people. "I can't wait till Slade kills all these people," she said suddenly. "They all have the perfect life…yet they want it to be more perfect. They don't know what it is like to have a power they couldn't control," she seethed through clenched teeth. "I'm just lucky I found Slade and figured out how to use my powers."

Red X glanced over to Jessica with wonder in his eyes. He then looked back down on the city and said quietly to her, "Not everyone down there is having this 'perfect life' you speak of. You don't think of this city as your home like I do because you only moved here a few years ago, but some of us do. With no real parents for years, I've had to fight my way to survive here. I know sometimes it feels like no one goes through the struggles you do, but we all do have our own."

"What point are you getting at, Jake?" Jessica snapped back at him callously.

"What I'm saying is that if this is the reason you joined up with Slade then it's a pretty lame and stupid one," Red X said sternly to her. "No one has a perfect life, Jessica."

"Bull shit," Jessica spat back with her eyes narrowing into dark slits of hatred for the city.

Red X opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off by Jessica's communicator going off. The girl pulled it out of her pocket and flipped it open to show a screen. Slade stared back at them with that tranquil manor about him.

"I see that you are already with Jake at this moment," Slade said to Jessica as he spotted Red X standing by the girl. "Having a fun time?" he asked them sardonically. He actually let himself express a hint of a smile at their childish actions for their responses. Both gave small sighs while looking away from each other. Jessica rolled her eyes from pure annoyance.

"Not exactly, Slade," Red X said coldly. He folded his arms in front of him and asked, "Why do you want us together? It's not like we are two peas in a pod."

"I need you two to go on a mission for me tomorrow night," Slade cut down right to the point. "I want the Titans dead in a week from now if it is possible. I have already personally told you both my plans for them, so you must know what I need."

"So what's the mission?" Red X asked impatiently with some edge to his voice. He muttered a sorry when Slade gave him a stern look to obey. Red X just didn't want to hear about how he had to kill the Titans himself so that Slade could come in and take over the city. The thought just made him angry at the man even more.

"You're mission is to get the things I need," Slade said emotionlessly. "With both your skills combined I'm expecting you two to at least get in three robberies in one night without the Titans knowing. Jake will know where to find the stuff. I will give you the list of things after we are done here."

"What if I can't find everything?" Red X asked the man. "I'm a thief who wants only money. I don't look for explosives and crap."

"But you somehow know where the finest jewels and money stashes are," Slade answered quickly. "Just switch it around for what I need."

"And what if the one of us trips the alarm and the Titans show up?" Jessica asked. "There won't be a Robin there."

"Jake won't allow that," Slade said calmly as he stared at Red X with his one eye. The teen gave a shiver at the intensity of the man's stare. "Jessica, I'm putting you under Jake's charge for now. You do what he says. No childish games. I want your best."

"I can't take orders from _him_!" Jessica shouted angrily at Slade as she pointed to Red X. "He's just some stupid thief that can barely take orders from you."

"He's in charge because I wish it," Slade said firmly. "Now, Jake, get to the Tower. Jessica…watch him closely." The screen then showed up a small list of the things Slade wanted them to get. Jessica saved it to her communicator then closed it up and put it in her pocket with a sour expression on her face.

Red X smiled slyly under his mask as he watched Jessica pout over having to listen to him for now on. "Having fun yet?" he asked her. He circled the angry girl with his hands placed behind his back in a relaxed manner. He liked making the girl frustrated. It was beginning to be his favorite past time.

"Shut up, idiot," Jessica muttered back.

"Well, to find these places where the stuff is, we need to do some research," Red X said while tapping his chin in thought. "I'll be too busy tomorrow with the Titans because it will be Saturday, and those days are busy for superheroes. I guess you'll be bored watching over me like a hawk all day, so maybe I can spice it up for you."

"Don't make me do your dirty work, Jakey," Jessica said.

"You want to keep your job, Jess?" Red X asked her with venom in his voice.

A/N: I hope this is okay for you guys. I am now putting set dates on my two main fics so that I can have a deadline. I know it will challenge me, but it will be good. If my next chapter is not out by the 23rd I give you readers full permission to yell at me in a review till I'm dead. Won't that be fun. Till then, have a good week and get into the Christmas spirit by watching Elf! Best movie ever! Enough with the randomness. Please give a review!


	16. Chapter 16 He's Back

A/N: Prepare for another long one as a Christmas gift to you readers. And if you want to give me a gift, give me a review. Christmas is the time of giving. Giving a review is part of that Christmas spirit! And yes, I'm trying to sound extra cheesy and Hallmarkish. Is that even a word? Oh well. Just tell me if you enjoyed the chapter it will put a very big smile to my face. Thanks! And have a wonderful Christmas!

Disclaimer: look back on the other chapters and you will get a lot of disclaimers screaming that I don't own any of the Titans.

Chapter 16 He's Back

"You should get some sleep," Sam told Robin as she looked up from her laptop. She expressed an annoyed look and muttered into her headphones, "No, I'm not talking to you, Abe! Idiot!" Abe was heading into the jungle to keep going with the plan even though his talk with his dad didn't help much. Abe knew something was going on but he kept that unsteady feeling to himself so Sam wouldn't have to worry much.

"I'm fine," Robin said from he was sitting on the bed next to the one she was on. A thick book was in his bare hands. His mask was back on because for some reason it was like apart of the teen. Even though the boy was reading a perfectly good book and looking very relaxed, the truth was that he was very restless. His head spun with different thoughts about what he was doing. Small backup plans kept flying up randomly as he tried to read his book.

"It's one in the morning," Sam said flatly to him after glancing at the clock on the bedside table. "I know you didn't sleep on that plane, and I'm sure the day before you had none as well. To top it off, you haven't had lunch or supper. At least eat something."

"I'm not hungry," Robin answered simply while still reading. The statement was quickly shown as a lie when the teen's stomach growled loudly. Sam stared at him with worry on her face. She did care about the people she worked with. So far Robin was a pretty cool guy. She was afraid he would collapse from starvation or from being sleep deprived.

Robin watched the girl from the corner of his eye. He gave a small sigh of frustration while turning the page. He couldn't help being this way. He might not have his memory, but from doing the same thing for most of his life he created habits. Not sleeping for days was clearly one of them. He wasn't tired at all.

"Fine, I'll get something to eat," Robin muttered in defeat after a few seconds. He caught Sam's smug smile from where she worked at her computer as he marked his place in the book. Robin grabbed a mini banana out of a bowl on the small refrigerator in their room. He started to eat the sweet fruit as he leaned against the wall with a faraway look on his face.

"So while Abe is driving the bike out into the jungle to get to the site, let's talk about you," Sam said while sitting up on the bed. She gave him a big smile at his surprised look and said, "Maybe I can trigger a memory that you're keeping in that big head of yours. Want to give it a go?"

Robin shrugged. Truth be told, he had some second thoughts as to gain his memory back. But don't get him wrong. He really did want it! He couldn't go through his life knowing nothing whatsoever of his past. But what if he didn't like what he saw? What if what everyone had been telling him was just a lie and he was really someone else who he didn't want to be? There were so many possibilities. His fear was the unknown.

"Okay," Sam said with that same smile on her face. "So do you know anything about your real parents who died?"

"They were business people who got killed in a car crash," Robin guessed with another shrug. "That's all my mind tells me. I can't remember names or what they looked like."

"I don't think they were business people," Sam said with some hesitation. "Really, I don't know who you are under that mask. No one seriously knows."

"Yeah," Robin muttered. He gave a small wince and started to rub his forehead as some pictures flashed into his head. They were like fragments that flew at him then quickly whizzed by so he couldn't hold onto them. He couldn't make them out. But they created a lot of pain for his head.

Sam didn't see Robin wince and quickly moved on, thinking that there was no way he could gain those memories with her help. "What about Batman? Remember him?"

"He was evil," Robin said quietly. "That's all."

"No," Sam said with a sigh. Man, that machine had warped his past! "You were his sidekick. Both of you guys were superheroes. You then created the Teen Titans. Remember any of them?"

"Nope," Robin said with a sigh. "I told you already. I don't and can't remember anything! Ever thought that I'll never get my memory back? What if I'm bound to live a second life with all my childhood and half of my teen years gone for forever? Ever think about that?"

Sam wasn't affected by Robin's sudden outburst. It was what she was wanting and hoping for. Maybe something will snap in his head and make him remember. Till then she could keep on pushing more emotion out of him.

"What about Slade?" Sam asked him while getting off her bed with pretend anger. "Ever think about him, Robin? My dad said that you desperately didn't want to get your mind erased!" She was now yelling to stir him up some more. "He said you were almost pleading with him at the last second, even though that is so out of character for you. There has to be some bad memory about him that has a lot of emotion in it. Why can't you just remember one piece of information? Maybe you just don't want to!"

"Shut up!" Robin yelled back at her. "Don't you think I've been there already? I'm not stupid! I've tried millions of different ideas to get something back. You don't know what I'm going through. You don't know the confusion and frustration. It's hard living with no goals or a passion in your life. You're constantly wondering why you're alive or striving to keep going on. There's no hope in this brain of mine! You…" He winced a little as more of those fragments came at him. "You…" He had to stop because now the pain was too great and the fragments were speeding up.

"Oh no," Sam muttered. She ran up to him and wondered what she had done. Maybe she had pushed him a little too far. She watched hopelessly as Robin slowly dropped to the floor while clutching his head as immense pain burned his forehead. He tried to close his eyes to block all the visions that kept coming at him at light speed, but nothing could stop them now. All he could do was wait it out.

Sam quickly took out her cell phone and frantically punched in her dad's number with a look of panic on her face. It rung a few times and she swore quietly to herself because she thought her dad wouldn't pick up. But he finally did and she yelled shakily into it, "Dad! It's Robin!"

Robin looked up to the girl from where he sat on the floor. He quickly closed his eyes again with another wince. These flashes of memory zooming around in his head started to go faster, and this made the teen cry out in pain. His head felt like it was going to explode. When would it stop?

After a few minutes of extreme pain, the memory flashes started to slow down and they finally came to a complete stop. Robin took in a few deep breaths to steady himself. He was sweating profusely and shaking uncontrollably. He looked up to Sam and saw her give him a worried smile and put an ice pack on his forehead.

"I just called my dad," Sam whispered quietly to him. "He said you will be fine. He also said you were getting a lot of your memory back because a normal gain of memory wouldn't give you that much pain. What do you remember?"

"Enough," Robin said coldly as his deadly glare was placed on the ceiling. He had seen enough.

- Raven -

"Raven! Wake up, girl! Jeez, you're a sound sleeper!" Cyborg whispered sharply to Raven as he lightly shook her shoulder to wake the Goth girl up. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at her clock with a priceless, confused expression on her face. Her perplexed look quickly turned into one of deep annoyance as she saw that it was around midnight.

"What is going on?" she whispered harshly back at Cyborg while sitting up. Starfire was right beside him with a worried look in her wide, green eyes that kept darting around the dark room. Beast Boy stood there looking like he was dozing off even while standing up. But something was different about his vibes and mood. Raven could sense that he was extremely uneasy about something. But why?

Cyborg gave his friend a sheepish smile before answering, "I'm calling a meeting."

Raven pulled the covers over her head with a loud moan at their ignorance. "You all are crazy," she mumbled into her pillow. "Go to sleep. I'm not going to a one in the morning meeting."

Cyborg gave a short sigh of frustration before saying seriously, "It's about Robin."

Raven's eyes went wide with surprise from where she hid under her covers. She was suddenly awake. So she hadn't been the only one who thought Robin was acting strange. Raven sat back up and said emotionlessly to Cyborg, "I'm up."

In only the matter of minutes, the four Titans were in Starfire's room. They didn't want to wake Robin because the meeting was about him. Raven levitated in the air with her legs crossed while Cyborg and Starfire sat on the bed. Beast Boy laid off to the side of the round, pink bed and was trying his hardest to go to sleep and to act normal. He already knew what was wrong with their so called "Robin", and he wasn't about to go blab it out of the world.

"So, you think that something is strange with Robin too?" Raven asked them. "His vibes are different with me, and I don't have that connection with him like before. That is how I knew he was acting different. He's hiding something from us."

"He does not conversation with me as easily as before," Starfire with deep concern in her voice. She always did care a lot for the Boy Wonder. "I wasn't going to say anything, but Cyborg asked me and I couldn't lie."

"He's not his usual over obsessive self anymore," Cyborg said.

"Wait," Beast Boy said while sitting up. "Isn't that a good thing?" He was only answered by mean glares to make him shut up. Beast Boy shrugged and yawned. As long as they didn't catch on to his anxious mood, he was good.

"But he seems more unsure of himself nowadays," Cyborg went on. "He doesn't like to interact with us. He tries to avoid us at all costs. And he sucks at basketball."

The team gave him weird looks at his last sentence. Beast Boy gave a small laugh at his randomness while Starfire asked innocently, "How does the ball of basket have to do with the strange ways of our leader? I am confused."

"It was a joke, Starfire," Raven said emotionlessly.

"But it wasn't funny," Starfire said. "This meeting should be serious. This is Robin, our leader, we are meeting for. Would he crack the jokes if he had a meeting for one of us?"

"No, it wasn't a joke," Cyborg said to back himself up. "Usually Robin and I play basketball everyday if it is good weather. For the past week he has sucked so bad when we play that he can't even get a point." Beast Boy opened his mouth to say something and was cut off by Cyborg adding, "And he wasn't letting me win, if that's what you're thinking, BB." The changeling frowned.

"What about you, Beast Boy?" Raven asked him suddenly. Beast Boy's ears perked up in surprise and fright. Raven felt his nervous vibe, and she narrowed her eyes at him with suspicion. "Have you noticed anything different in Robin?"

There are a few things that Beast Boy couldn't do. One of them was lie straight face to his friends. The sweat was now dripping down freely under his short, green fur. He slightly shook his head no and looked down to his feet. He wanted to go back to sleep.

"You know something, don't you?" Cyborg asked Beast Boy. The changeling scooted away from the half robot teen and shook his head again. Cyborg frowned while Starfire narrowed her eyes sharply at him.

"What are you not telling us, friend?" Starfire asked him. For once there was some anger in her voice. This only made Beast Boy even more tense. He especially hated to make her mad at him because she usually was so happy with everything. It took a lot to make her angry.

"I don't know anything," he said as he put his hands up to defend himself. He then looked to the door and bolted for it when he realized that he was slowly getting pushed into the corner of Starfire's room. The others all went after him with shouts of protest for his stupid act.

"Get him!" Cyborg yelled to his team as he lunged for the green teen. Beast Boy screamed loudly in fright as he jumped into the air to avoid getting caught. Cyborg banged into the wall and Beast Boy ran for the door again.

Starfire swiftly blocked the door before Beast Boy could get to it. Beast Boy bit his lower lip before morphing into a fly and stealthily zipping past her. He buzzed around her head then headed for the side of the door that would lead into the wall. He was so close to escaping.

"Stop!" Raven yelled and suddenly the whole room was bathed in black with white outlining. Beast Boy, as a fly, soared right into the black wall and quickly changed back into his humanoid self with a wince and cry of pain and defeat. He lost his balance while backing up from the door while holding his sore nose. He then fell onto his butt.

When Beast Boy looked up, he saw Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven looming over him with deep frowns on their faces. They were clearly not happy with him. The changeling gave his team a weak smile that quickly fell from his face when they didn't give him any pity.

"Tell us," Cyborg said sternly down to him. "Tell us everything you know about Robin."

- Red X -

"We need to pick up the pace," Red X said over to Jessica. He gave a small grunt while setting the unknown computer device on his kitchen table in his small apartment where they had decided to store their many treasures for Slade. He glanced over his shoulder to see Jessica slowly coming into the room with the same kind of device in her hands. "Trouble?" he asked her while watching her wince from the heavy weight of the object.

"Why don't you just shut up?" she snapped back at him. She was still mad that she was working under him now. "We are going at a fine speed. Plus, the next place is going to be easy."

"No, you can't think that way when being a thief," Red X quickly said. He swiftly caught the device when she tripped and almost dropped it. "Nothing is easy," he said to her as he set the thing on the table along with all the other odds and ends they were ordered to get for Slade.

"Can't we just take a little break?" Jessica asked him. She collapsed into his dusty and old couch in the dark living room attached to the kitchen. "Nice place," she muttered sarcastically when the dust cleared away from her face.

"In an hour it will be four in the morning," Red X said in a rush. He started to pace the living room in front of the girl, in his own little world. "The Titans wake up in an hour to two hours after that time. I need to be there before they wake up."

"Crap," Jessica said with a sigh. "You're going to pull an all-nighter, so that means I have to do the same. Don't you ever sleep?"

Red X didn't answer her. He stared at the clock on the wall while calculating the timings of things in his head. "We need to move," he finally said. "Break's over. Hope you had fun."

"Can't we just take it slow, Jakey?" Jessica asked with a deep sigh of weariness.

"No," Red X snapped back at her.

"You're acting as if you like being a thief," she muttered while standing up. She looked at him thoughtfully with those cold, blue eyes and said sweetly, "You're a whole other person while in thief mode." She gave him her trademark wicked smile and said, "Slade picked the perfect person."

Red X raised his foot up and kicked her sharply in the chest. The girl was too surprised to counterattack and ended up landing on the couch with a wince. Red X stood there fuming and balling his hands into tight fists. Jessica looked up at him, and something very similar to a growl escaped her lips.

"I didn't want to be put into this position," Red X muttered to the girl. His voice was sharp and harsh as his eyes were narrowed dangerously. "You want me on Slade's and yours side, give me a better reason to believe that joining you is better than where I am now. But you're going after something you'll never kill."

Jessica picked herself up while still glaring venomously at the teen. She couldn't form any words or think of any way of getting back at Jake for knowing exactly what she had been trying to do. Red X gave a sigh as the tense air finally cooled down between the two and they could speak freely once again. It wasn't easy talking to her like a normal being, but they were both working at it.

"We're going to cut it close," he said. "Let's go." Jessica sluggishly jogged behind him to the door of the room. Red X noticed her laziness right away, and his anger at her carelessness finally got the better of him as he yelled behind his shoulder, "NOW!" His outburst did the trick, and the two were quickly heading for their next destination.

- Jake -

Jake rubbed his sleepy eyes as he dressed into his Robin uniform. He slowly and sluggishly pulled on his metal bottom shoes with a wide yawn. He had just gotten to the Tower, and it was around four or five in the morning. He was going to meet Beast Boy in the basement, but he wanted to get ready for the day first.

The teen gave a small sigh while shoving his Red X suit into his pillow case. He gave another tired yawn, but quickly told himself to wake up. He was wasted of all energy from his night of stealing. He had never stolen from so many places in one night before. And Jessica was not much any help. She was just two extra hands to carry the stuff away.

Jake's body refused to calm down, though. At the time of stealing, he had been calm and relaxed with an occasional sly smirk on his lips. Right now he was on the brink of a nervous break down because the stress and intenseness of the night was finally weighting down on his mind.

The hallways were dark and silent in the Tower that early morning. No one seemed to be up yet. Jake was very thankful for that part. He casually walked down the cold hallway and to the living room. He grabbed an apple out of a bowl on the counter there and then headed for the basement with a depressed look in his fading, blue eyes. The light in them was gradually vanishing with every command Slade gave him. The fun loving twinkle and fiery spark in those bright eyes was now gone. Determination was the only thing that could be seen in them as he tried to push through his struggle.

"Beast Boy," Jake called down the stairs of the basement when he saw that the lights were out. He wondered if the changeling was even down there. Did he forget to set his alarm? The hair in the back of his neck stood up as his gut feelings told him to flee. The teen swallowed his uncertainty and proceeded to walk down the stairs after putting his apple down on the first step.

Darkness surrounded the thief when the door behind him slid closed and cut off any light to the room. Jake didn't flick on the lights as he slowly went down the stairs with alertness to every step he took. An ominous echo sounded out when Jake's shoes hit the metal stairs under him. The foreboding sound clearly gave away his position and then came back to him as if mocking the teen for his very unwise decision.

It seemed like it took Jake forever to reach the very bottom of the stairs. "Beast Boy, are you there?" he whispered harshly into the threatening darkness that seemed to engulf his whole body. "Answer me! This isn't a joke! Beast Boy!"

"End of the line, Robin," someone said off to Jake's side. It sounded like Cyborg. The sudden sound of someone else's voice other than Beast Boy's made the teen jump and gasp a little from surprise and shock. The thief cried out in pain as the lights were suddenly turned on and the whole basement was bathed in bright light that burned his eyes that had got adjusted to the darkness.

"Or should we say, Red X?" another voice said with anger flowing in it. This voice now sounded like Starfire's. Jake opened his burning eyes as panic flashed on his face. He spotted Beast Boy tied to an old chair in the middle of the room. He was bound and gagged. The changeling only looked to the floor in defeat. Cyborg stood by the chair with his laser cannon aimed at Jake. Starfire and Raven where on both his sides and hovering in the air. All three didn't look too happy at his arrival.

"Or should we call you by your real name? Jake?" Raven asked him with her voice emotionless as always. Jake's brain went into shock for the first few seconds. He couldn't function. Things were coming at him way too fast for him to comprehend. He then put his head on straight and he barred his teeth in frustration and anger over the situation. Things weren't going to be pretty.

Without a word, Jake bolted for the stairs. He heard Cyborg shout something to his team behind him as he climbed up the stairs as fast as he could. A sonic blast flew over his shoulder and barely missed the teen. Jake jumped up to the railing while pulling out his grappling hook. He quickly aimed and in seconds was airborne.

Starfire acted quickly and threw a few starbolts at the cord propelling Jake into the air. One cut through the cord and left Jake battling with the gravity working fully against him. A sharp yell of surprise escaped the teen's mouth as he realized he was heading the opposite way he attended to go. He landed on the floor with a grunt of pain and had to roll a few times to lighten the impact. He finally got to his shaky feet as his legs threatened to stop supporting him.

_BAM!_

The boy could only wince as a blinding pain exploded in his head. He fell to the hard floor and slowly touched the back of his head. When he looked at his fingers he could see his crimson colored blood on them. Jake's vision doubled and he cringed while fighting for consciousness. Everything was starting to go dark, and he couldn't stay awake any longer.

"No!" Jake muttered faintly. "You don't understand!" He saw two feet come into his fuzzy vision. By the look of the shoes, it had to be Raven. "Raven, you don't understand. Believe me! Please." And then he succumbed to the darkness with dread of waking up again because he knew what would be in store for him.

A/N: Another long chapter! If it sucked it was because I had writers block for it. Hope you liked it! My next update will be on the 31st as a New Years gift to my wonderful readers! Please give a review!


	17. Chapter 17 Mud Pit

A/N: This Christmas was pretty sweet. I got Batman Begins! But I remember when I was younger I got so excited before Christmas. Now it just feels dull and diluted in my eyes and I always just try to push through the crap going on around me half heartedly. I don't care about presents or getting gifts. All I look forward to is having more time off school. Oh well, enough with my pathetic outlook on Christmas. Here's your New Year's gift! I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own it! This is the last time I have to say it this year! Yes!

Chapter 17 Mud Pit

James blinked a few times while slowly waking up from a rough sleep. He had finally gotten some down time for a few hours, but the sleep was dreamless with just silent darkness surrounding him for around three or four hours, tops. The man looked up and was a bit surprised to not see Slade there. He looked around with confusion and still couldn't spot the mad man.

Panic flared up in him while the situation finally slapped him in the face. Slade was gone and had left him there! How long had he been sleeping? Slade could be on a plane heading for Peru already just because he had dozed off. He kicked himself mentally for making such a mistake.

The feeling didn't last long because suddenly James felt a hand grab his wrist. James twisted his body to see behind the pipe he was attached to. And there Slade was, taking off his hand cuffs without a word spoken.

"You could have just left me here," James said quietly to him. "Care to explain why you're taking me along for the ride?"

They both stood up and Slade cuffed James's hands behind him once again. "You're my insurance," Slade said simply while pushing James ahead of him.

"I've always wanted to be an insurance," James said cockily with his trademark smile. "You're making all my wishes come true. Maybe you can grant this one, Slade. I wish you would tell me what you plan to do once leaving here."

"When things get this serious it's better to do things yourself," Slade said. "We're heading for Jump City. But first we are stopping by Pulcallpa. I need to pick up a few things."

- Robin -

"We need to get out of here…now!" Robin said to Sam while taking out a backpack and shoving the food in the small fridge into it in a rush.

"Whoa! Wait, Robin!" Sam said while shaking her head in confusion. "You're not explaining anything to me. What is going on? Why do we need to leave? Is it something you remembered?"

"Hell yeah!" Robin said to her with a nod. "Pack up your computer stuff. Quickly," he added. He saw the complete confusion as to why she had to do this and he decided to explain. "I got most of my memory back," he said quickly while shoving anything into the backpack. "I still have a lot missing, like my childhood, but I remember my team and everything Slade was planning to do. We need to keep moving."

"But why?" Sam asked. She started to carefully put a few of her things into her own backpack while making quick glances over to the teen. He was acting so differently than what he was two seconds ago. He seemed so much more confident and sure of himself now. It was amazing how some memory could change his countenance.

"I remember when I first came to the Dragon Academy," Robin said quickly as if he was a kid on a sugar high. "I was trying to put together what Slade planned to do with me and my team. He wants to get rid of them, I'm sure of it. But now that I have my memory back, and he knows I'll get it sometime soon, he is going to come after me. I don't know if it will be himself or one of his robots. The only good thing to do is to keep moving around. I can't get captured by him again, but I can't call up my team and tell them what's going on because…okay, it's just too complicated right now to explain to you in full detail. We will talk later about this."

"Jeez!" Sam muttered while shaking her head. "Slade had this planned for a long time, didn't he?"

Before Robin could answer her, there was a loud bang on the door to their room. Sam let out a small scream out of fright and surprise. Robin swore under his breath while spinning around on his heel. He saw the hand of a Slade bot had punctured the door and was now unlocking all the locks on the door to get in.

Robin searched the room for another way out. He ran to the window and flung the drapes away. His eyes went wide when seeing two Slade bots climbing up the building up to their third story window. "Not that way!" he said to Sam.

"Want to go up?" Sam asked him while pointing to the vent above her head. They both smiled at each other because they had both been thinking the same thing. Suddenly the door was busted down, and in came three robots with laser guns aimed for the two young ones.

"You first," Robin said to her while shoving both backpacks into her hands. "I'll hold them off for now." She only nodded without any protest. She jumped onto the bed, and in a flash of light had turned into a very tall lady so she could reach the vent hatch easily.

Robin smiled slyly at the three robots coming at him. He had missed his old fighting self. He swiftly dodged the lasers coming at him and advanced toward the three. He jumped into the air and landed behind them. He executed a sharp kick to the back of one robot and sent him tumbling to the floor. The teen grabbed a lamp off the table he stood next to and swung it like he would a baseball bat, with one of the robot's head as the baseball.

As the Slade bot's head soared across the room, the window smashed open and spilled razor sharp pieces of glass into the room. Sam let out a small scream while turning back into her original form. One robot came at her and Robin tried to stop it. But he didn't have to. Sam took the vent hatch in her hands and slammed it down on its head then kicked it in the chest and into its partner. "Back off!" she yelled at it.

There was more to these two kids James had sent to take care of Robin. One thing was for sure, he wouldn't have to fight by himself in the future. Robin suddenly thought of Abe and started to worry for the kid. Slade had to know that James had plotted against him by now. Robin had gotten all the memories of his old apprenticeship, and he knew that Slade was as smart and quick as a supercomputer. So did Slade go after James and capture him, or was James still on the run? Unfortunately, the first of the two sounded like the right answer.

As Robin calculated all this information in his head, he was jumping around the hotel room like a monkey to avoid all the robots coming at him. Sam hopped a few times on the bed then grabbed the side of the ventilation shaft. Using all the strength she could muster, she pulled herself and two filled to the brim backpacks up and into the shaft with a grunt of exertion. The vent was just big enough for her size. Any adult would have a problem at this point.

Robin sprung off a wall with his feet and came right back at the Slade bot that had thrown him into it. He punched the robot in the face and forced it to the ground in sparking bits. The small acrobat landed on his hands and pushed off them to propel his feet into another robot coming at him. His force made the robot fall backwards and out of the window.

The teen landed in a crouch and looked up to see that Sam was in the vent watching him carefully. Robin jumped onto the bed under the shaft and easily leaped up to it and pulled himself in. He gave her a nod then they both started to crawl away.

The two quickly made their ways to another room with an opening. Robin brought his right leg up and then kicked the hatch open in one powerful thrust. There was a loud bang in the dark room under them as the hatch with its bolts fell to the floor. Robin cringed when hearing a scream of the guest living the in the room as she was rudely awaken from two random strangers.

"Go out the window!" Robin quickly ordered Sam before jumping down into the room. Sam followed him silently and she ran to the window right away. Robin turned on a lamp and calmly said the woman tourist in the room, "Sorry for the disturbance, miss. We need to use your window."

The lady stared at him through the darkness of the room with fright all over her face. She then screamed loudly, "Robbers! HELP!"

"No! Please be quiet, lady!" he said frantically to calm the woman down. "We're not stealing anything!"

"Make her shut up!" Sam hissed over to Robin from where she was tying up the torn spare bed's sheets for a makeshift rope to get down to the ground safely.

"I'm trying!" Robin yelled back above the screaming of the panic stricken lady. "Calm down!" There was a bang on the door. They had been found! Robin glared daggers at the lady and said, "Forget you. Are you done, Sam?"

"No time for a test run," Sam said while throwing the window open and dropping the torn sheets out of it. "Here I go!" she said while gripping the rope in her hands and then descending quickly. Robin was right behind her. His last look in the room was the door being busted down and the lady on the bed freaking out even more. She brought it upon herself.

"Faster!" Robin said down to Sam. They flew down the line and didn't take time to register their surroundings as they took off into the dark city in search for a place to stay for the night. Robin looked over his shoulder and saw that the robots hadn't followed them for some reason. He breathed a sigh of relief and then looked forward. Things were getting down to the grit and grime. He wouldn't be able to keep doing this for forever. Sooner than later Slade would capture him. Till then, Robin would just have to keep running.

- Abe -

He didn't like this. Everything was going exactly according to his father's plan. He knew that he should have been happy and grateful that the plan was working perfectly, but the boy hadn't expected it at all. It all seemed…unnatural to him somehow. Abe thought that his father was brilliant and on the border line of a genius sometimes, but the smart kid knew that Slade was ten times quicker than most and had had to been planning this move for a long time. The mad man had to have a back up plan somewhere!

The blasting roar of the motorcycle echoed around the dark jungle. The kid was once again transformed into an older version of himself so he could fit on the vehicle properly. He flew over the dried leaves and fallen branches with skill only a few his age had mastered from hard core training. The boy had always been an adventure seeker. Motorcycling was one of his all time favorite sports.

Abe had been riding in the dark, immense jungle for an hour now. He kept looking to his left and right instead of focusing on the rough terrain in front of him as if someone was going to sneak up on him at any time. He had this weird feeling that he wasn't alone.

"Sam, I'm a half an hour away from the big guy's mansion," Abe said into his microphone built into his helmet. The place Abe and Sam had been checking out the day before belonged to a big drug dealer from the States. Their dad's plan was for Abe, transformed into Robin, to get into the house and force the guy to fake his own death. This way Slade still thought that Robin had killed him and was his true apprentice. Abe would fly to Italy and when Slade least expected it, would disappear with his dad and leave Slade in the dark. It was a pretty good plan, but it had some flaws. One big one was that Slade already knew most of it.

"Sam, can you hear me?" Abe asked with some impatience in his voice this time. "C'mon, Sam! I don't have time for your older sister crap. We're twins! You might be taller, but you're not older than me." No answer. This time Abe's voice was a bit shaky and not as demanding. He was more like pleading for her to talk to him. "Sam? Please answer me."

No answer.

"Crap."

Three seconds after his semi curse, two lights came on up ahead in the jungle and started to come at him at tremendous speed. They had to be either two four-wheelers or two motorcycles. Either way he was out numbered. These weren't good odds.

At first Abe was confused. It looked like the two vehicles were going to go straight on past him from the side even though they were in a large, muddy clearing with no trees. It was his own light from his motorcycle that saved his life. The bright beam was reflected off the small cheese wire ready to slice right through him. He had only a few seconds to act.

Abe didn't try to focus on his older form as he threw himself off his cycle with a grunt of frustration at his stupidity. Right when his shoulder landing roughly on the muddy ground, the deadly cheese wire flew over his head. The kid winced while rolling on the ground and getting thoroughly covered with thick, sticky mud that clung onto his clothes like a leach would to your skin. His helmet wasn't strapped on, so it came flying off after a few violent rolls.

But he was alive! The boy sat up while looking at his ruined clothing with disgust. He heard the two vehicles behind him turn around and head his way once again. His look of repulsion quickly changed into a one of dread as he got up and started to sprint to the end of the clearing, leaving his bike behind him. He could be faster and quicker on foot.

The kid found out that he was having a problem with the mud he was in. He couldn't go very far without falling onto his hands and knees or to his butt. Every time he picked up his feet out of the mud it would making a sickening sucking noise as it tried to keep him there.

Abe realized that this wasn't a clearing at all. It was a dried up river. It was the dry season in Peru, so sometimes small rivers dried up, and when it rained it would create the dried up clay to form into mud. But it hadn't rained for days now! How could it be like this then? A flare of pure panic rose up in Abe as he comprehended that it had been Slade. He knew! Things could only get worse.

"This can't be happening!" Abe hissed to himself while looking behind him to see the two huge four-wheelers fly over the mud like it was no problem. Big chunks of sludge were thrown into the air behind the vehicles as they got deeper into the mire.

One four-wheeler was coming right at Abe, and it didn't look like it was going to slow down to talk to him. But they had lost the cheese wire, and that made Abe a little bit grateful. The whole front side of the boy was illuminated by the bright glow of the head lights of the vehicle roaring at him at full speed. At the last second, Abe was able to pull his feet free and roll off to the side. He cringed as he heard the wiz of the tires zooming past him as he moved.

The other four-wheeler had stopped off to Abe's side and the robot driver was coming to finish the boy off himself. Abe looked up just in time to see and swiftly dodge the fist aimed at his head. Well, swiftly wasn't the greatest word to describe his move. It was more along the lines of ducking and putting his arms over his head as the robot tripped over him. The kid got up with some surprise that his pathetic move had worked somehow.

"Bad move coming off your only protection, buddy," Abe sneered at the robot while turning around and delivering a sharp kick to its neck and knocking it back into the sludge. The robot didn't get stuck in the mud as easily as the human, so it was up in seconds and ready for another beating from the twelve year old.

A punch to the forehead and roundhouse kick to its chest sent the robot to the mud once again. This time Abe had trouble moving in the thick substance and ended up landing on his back with a loud splat. By this time, the other robot was back and had gotten off its four-wheeler to join the fight. Abe slowly got to his feet with dread on his face. This fight was getting difficult. But he couldn't lose. His life and maybe others depended on it, if his guesses were right.

Both robots came at the kid with surprising speed. Abe ducked and swung his foot under the legs of one robot and was able to knock it off its feet. The other robot dodged the boy's upper cut and kicked him in the stomach. Abe doubled over while gasping for air as chunks of mud slipped off his face as he looked to the ground. He then looked back up at the robot with anger flashing in his eyes.

"Okay, now you guys have pissed me off," Abe muttered through clenched teeth. "Now you'll get it." He came at one robot and relentlessly attacked it with various punches and kicks with no mercy in his eyes. In seconds the thing was lying on the ground in a heap of sparking scrap metal and wires. With new found energy, the kid did the same thing to the other robot.

It was done. He had won. Abe dropped to his butt while panting from so much energy he had wasted. His small body could only go so far till he was worn out. He was a complete mess with mud everywhere possible on his body. But he had beaten them, and that was all that mattered.

Much to Abe's dismay, the battle wasn't over just yet. Out of the still darkness all around him, except for the nighttime bugs, came the sound of more motors being cranked up. Abe sat up with his eyes going wide with horror. Round one was done. Was he reading for the next one?

"No," he whispered wearily to himself. "Not more!" In some desperate attempt to get away from the battle sure to come, the boy got to his feet and tried to go back the way he came. He didn't make it far when four four-wheelers blasted out into the muddy river and toward Abe.

"I'm not going down without a fight, boys," Abe said to the robots as the four vehicles quickly surrounded him. "Prepare to get down and dirty." With that said the boy launched himself at one robot and knocked him down to the ground. He then tried to get onto the four-wheeler, but was quickly caught by his ankle and thrown into the air. Abe came crashing down onto the mud with a loud cry of pain and half defeat. He knew he wasn't going to win, but he still wasn't beaten.

Abe tried to get to his feet, but a robot kicked his chin and made him bite into his tongue. The nasty taste of copper exploded into the boy's mouth as his teeth sliced into his tongue and drew blood. Abe's brain screamed at his body to move as he spat blood out of his mouth on his hands and knees. But he couldn't function. All his energy was seriously depleted. He couldn't go on.

A robot slammed its foot down onto Abe's back and made the boy drop to his chest. He was a bit surprised that they started to tie his hands behind his back and bind his feet together. He thought that Slade would want him dead. He sure had gone out of his way to make this river into mud so he wouldn't be able to fight as well. And it had seemed like he was aiming to kill him with that cheese wire.

Why? Why did Slade want him alive? The question kept spinning rapidly around in the kid's brain as he struggled fruitlessly in his binds as his captors made sure he wouldn't be able to go anywhere now. Whatever Slade wanted him for, Abe knew it wouldn't be a good thing. He would end up dead in Slade's hands anyways. So why was this questions going around in his head?

Suddenly a sharp pain was created in the boy's neck. Abe spotted the glistening needle in the moonlight and winced as he felt the sedative start to take over his body quickly. "God, please help me," Abe muttered right before drifting off into a much darker and scarier place than the giant mud pit he had been stuck in. At this point his life was in the Creator's hands. Only the boy's God could help him now. Otherwise he could be considered dead.

A/N: This was a shorter chapter, and I'm sorry for that, people. I've been busy at my dad's work for three days, so I was too worn out to type. I just made this whole chapter into an action one that I hope you readers enjoyed very much. I had a blast typing it all out. But this chapter is my last update of this year! My next update will be on the 12th of next month because that weekend I'm going on a retreat. Happy New Year everyone! Hope it will be a good one for all of you!


	18. Chapter 18 Trust Issues

A/N: So many people are getting captured or avoiding capture in this fic that it kind of makes me laugh. Oh well, I just wanted to get that out for some stupid reason. Nothing much else to say but to please enjoy and review. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I only own the Hess and White family. Pretty much everything else is from the Teen Titans.

Chapter 18 Trust Issues

"Aw, Rae, you didn't have to knock him out cold," Beast Boy said to the Goth girl. He had been the bait in their plan. Beast Boy only got out that Robin was really Red X/Jake and that the real Robin was with Slade somewhere. That was all the other Titans needed to hear. They had constructed a quick plan and tied up Beast Boy against his will to lure Jake down into the basement. But they let him go after Raven knocked the teen out by using her powers to throw an old 30 pound weight at Jake's head.

The Titans were crowded around the fallen thief in seconds to see what damage Raven had done. Starfire looked depressed as she thought about their situation. She missed Robin. Cyborg only had an eternal worried expression on his face. Millions of things zipped through his head as he stared down at Jake. Most of them were not positive. Beast Boy just looked plain guilty for putting Jake in this position. He didn't want the dude's little sister to get killed because of his big mouth. Raven concealed her anger in her and just had her hood up to hide all her expressions in the shadows.

"Should we to tie him up so he will not escape?" Starfire asked the team to cut through the still silence that had gone on for a few minutes. "What if he wakes up?"

"He won't wake up anytime soon, Star," Cyborg said while dragging the limp body of Jake toward the chair Beast Boy had been tied to earlier. "He took a huge hit to the head. He's bleeding."

Beast Boy's ears perked up in alarm at this information, and he ran over to where the two were working on tying the teen up. "We should help him!" Beast Boy said while hopping around them in a frantic mess. "We need him!"

Suddenly Cyborg snapped. "And who told you that?" he snarled at the green teen harshly. "Him?" he asked while pointing sharply at Jake. Beast Boy stopped on a dime and his ears dropped. Cyborg wasn't finished, though. "He is the one who willingly took Robin's place and tricked us for who knows how long while Robin was carried off by Slade! He's the enemy and you trusted him for some idiotic reason! How could you be so stupid?"

"No," Beast Boy said with his voice little and weak. He hated to see his best friend yell at him like this. It just crushed him inside. "He has a reason to take Robin's place. Slade has his little sister as blackmail. He didn't want to do this to us!"

"He was lying!" Cyborg yelled down at him. "Don't you get it, Beast Boy? He played you! Everything he told you was bogus. Why can't you use your head? This kept on going because of you!"

"But…"

"You know what?" Cyborg said. "Just shut up and keep out of this, Beast Boy. You have already done enough damage."

Beast Boy opened his mouth to shout a protest, but then self doubt clouded his brain and he decided not to argue. He finally gave way to defeat and dropped his eyes to the floor with a long sigh. What if Jake had been saying all those things just to keep the Titans off his back? What if he really did want to work for Slade? Everything could have gone so wrong just because of his stupid mistakes. The changeling sat off to the side of the basement to just think it all over.

Jake's wound stopped bleeding quickly and he finally came around after a few long hours of quiet waiting from the four Titans. He gave a loud groan from the pain shooting through his head, and this alerted the Titans he was fully awake. Everyone looked up to him and then came over to talk to him.

"Where is Robin?" Cyborg spoke first to him. "Tell us!" he growled down at the teen.

"I…I don't know," Jake said weakly after a few seconds of silence. He looked up at all of the faces before him and became a bit overwhelmed. Slade was going to kill him and Valentine! How could things get so out of control?

"Do not lie to us!" Starfire yelled at him. The others were kind of surprised at her actions because usually she was quiet and didn't interfere much at times like these. But this was the leader they were talking about.

"What's the use?" Jake whispered to himself with a sigh. He then looked back up at them and said, "Slade said he was going it Italy. But if you guys know him well, he won't be there for long."

"Italy?" Cyborg asked in confusion. The question was never meant to be answered. "Why would he bring Robin to Italy?"

"How should I know?" Jake asked him with a hint of anger in his voice. "He doesn't tell me a damn thing!"

"You work for him," Cyborg stated with his hands folding in front of him. "You should know."

"So now I'm classified as someone who loves the madman?" Jake yelled up at the robot teen. "Just because I was doing his dirty work and playing as clone boy, that doesn't mean I wanted to. I wasn't the person begging to be picked on. He just picked me and only me. I was forced into doing this. Get it?"

"You expect us to believe that load of crap?" Cyborg asked him. "It's the same lie you told Beast Boy. But this time it's different. We're not as gullible and won't ever buy it."

"Jeez! You guys are impossible!" Jake yelled. "I'm clone boy for a few weeks and you don't get the obvious lie till forever. But now that I'm shoving the truth in your face, you won't believe a single word. What do I have to do?"

"You're going to reverse this problem," Cyborg said. "You're going to tell us everything we need to know so we can get Robin back."

"I have problems of my own," Jake said quietly as his eyes shifted to the floor. He gave a small sigh as he swallowed his pride. He then looked up to the Titans with a pleading and hopeless look on his face. "I didn't want this job. I took it up because Slade has my little sister. If he figures out that you guys know about me, then he'll kill her with no hesitation. I…I'm begging you guys. Help me. Trust me. Please."

There was a long silence as everyone stared at Jake with different thoughts going through their heads. Some were on the brink of believing the poor teen and trusting him. But all those thoughts came crashing down as the girl who had been oh so quiet this whole time told them what was on her mind.

"NO!" she screamed. Something exploded from somewhere in the basement. Everyone jumped in surprise and fright. Raven suddenly yanked off Jake's mask and stared down at him fiercely. The boy gave a small wince while blinking his eyes a few times to get used to the new feeling. He then looked up into Raven's eyes and saw the deep pain and suffering in her heart.

"You tricked us!" Raven yelled at him in the face. "You lied, plotted, schemed, cheated, and deceived us! And we all believed you! We trusted you with our lives everyday. We laughed with you. We…we loved you as our friend and leader. But you didn't care! You kept going! So you kept pulling us up just so the drop could be more painful. You deserve no trust from any of us!"

There was silence once again as Jake and Raven stared into each other's eyes, as if exchanging all the pains in their lives. All the Titans watched the two as they battled it out with deadly stares. Jake narrowed his eyes before taking them away from Raven's in defeat. They weren't going to believe him. He was never going to win their trust even if he saved one of their lives. He had done too much damage. This was exactly what Slade had planned for him.

"Fine!" Jake snapped back up at the Titans. "I seriously don't care anymore! Do what you want with me and I'll answer everything you ask me as truthfully as I can, but I'm not going to be looking out for your health. I'm babysitting no one."

"But you said that you were fully with us a few nights ago," Beast Boy spoke up with anger in his voice. "Or was that a lie too?"

"How can I be on your side when your stupid team won't trust me?" Jake asked Beast Boy harshly. That shut the changeling up. He was still fighting the battle inside of him of whether Jake had been lying to him or not. Jake felt kind of sorry for snapping at Beast Boy like that, and his face softened a little when seeing the teen look to the floor with uncertainty. "Sorry," he muttered with a sigh. Beast Boy and Jake were kind of close, and they had evolved into something like friends over the past few days.

"So you'll answer our questions?" Cyborg asked Jake. His voice was still stern even though he had found it very interesting on how the two had just acted a few seconds ago. Cyborg was starting to think that maybe the changeling had been right about the thief, but he couldn't take any chances.

"It doesn't mean I know the answers to most of them," Jake said with a shrug. "But I would like to give you guys one piece of advice. Hurry up with it because someone was sent to keep a sharp eye on me. Once she realizes that I've been caught, all hell will break lose. I don't want to be in Jump City once Slade is through with it."

- James -

The earth was about 20 floors below them now. Slade led the way as they climbed the abandoned stairs up to the roof of the sky scraper that was scheduled to be toppled down in two days. The warm, night air in Lima, Peru brushed over James's face as he was forced to stand to one side on the roof with the little girl he had seen with Slade the day he had arrived in Italy. James had been surprised that she was still alive. Robots were then placed around them to make sure they wouldn't leave.

The girl was in a pretty bad shape, though. Her long brown hair was a mess on top of her head. Smudges of dirt were on her clothes and skin. Small scars ran up and down random places on her body. James looked down at her with sadness in his heart. He remembered when his kids were her age. Seeing her like this was triggering so many parental instincts in him.

When Slade silently walked over to the edge of the roof to look down, James put his tied up hands onto the girl's shoulder and squeezed it a little to comfort her. She looked up to him with those sad green eyes and gave him a weak smile. James returned it with a small one of his own even though it was such false hope. If his predictions were right, this girl would be dead before he would. He thought of a small prayer and sighed to calm his nerves.

"He's here," Slade said emotionlessly as he looked over to James. This made a small shiver go down James's spine even though it was warm outside that night. It was easy to see in Lima at night. So many lights were everywhere. The Peruvians loved to exaggerate in this city, so every building had to a have a neon light flashing in Spanish what it was all about. It was kind of like Times Square in New York, just ten times more brighter it seemed.

"Who's here?" James asked Slade with confusion sweeping over his face.

"You'll see," Slade said evilly. James knew Slade had to be smiling under his mask. He didn't like this. He knew Slade had something in store for him, and whatever it was, it wasn't going to be a good and happy thing. James's stomach turned as that perpetual sick and dreaded feeling twisted his insides once again.

Then the doors opened up that were off to the side of him, and out came two robots holding onto a mud covered boy that was struggling fiercely with loud protests. It took two seconds for James to recognize the kid and register it all in his head. It was his son!

"Abe!" James yelled while lunging forward in some desperate attempt to save him. The robots around him expected this act and quickly pulled him back to keep him in place.

Abe looked to James when hearing his name, and the dad could see the flash of panic in his boy's eyes. But his kid quickly got over his shock and turned his eyes over to Slade. James could only watch hopelessly as his boy was forced to stand in front of his enemy. How did he get so muddy? The poor kid was covered in the dry muck.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Abe yelled up at Slade. "Why waste you're time bringing me here? I'm no freaking use to you!" James could see that Slade was actually chuckling at the boy's actions because his shoulders were slightly shaking. The man only stared down at Abe with his hands placed behind him, in that tranquil stance. Abe quickly quieted down when seeing that his shouting wasn't going to get him anywhere.

"Smart boy you have here, Hess," Slade said over to James as his eye was still pinned on Abe. "But is he smart enough to keep himself or you alive?"

"Crap," James whispered to himself. He knew where this was going. What was he going to be forced to answer? Now that Slade had one of his very weak spots, he could almost make James or even Abe do anything. This guy just had to be the devil himself for being this cold and evil!

"Let's just get down to the point," Slade said. "Where is Robin and you're sister heading to?"

"That's it?" Abe asked him in disbelief. He gave a cocky laugh and said with a shrug, "I have no clue. Shouldn't you be the one keeping a tab on your so-called 'apprentice', Slade? Not doing your job, are you? Shame!"

"You're making this harder than what it can really be," Slade said down to him with his voice calm and peaceful. His eye said that he was kind of enjoying it, though. James let his son be his cocky self. He kind of got the overconfident attitude from his dad anyways.

"Why would I lie to you, Slade?" Abe asked the man with a smug and sarcastic smile.

This didn't seem to please the man. His eye narrowed a little to show this frustrated emotion. "I don't like repeating myself," he said to Abe. "Tell me where they are. If I get the same answer I won't ask nicely again."

"I don't like being redundant too," Abe said with a small shrug. "Maybe I didn't make it clear the first time. Let's try it this way. I. Don't. Freaking. Know. Understand?"

"You must think this is a game," Slade said while folding his arms in front of him.

Abe gave a sharp laugh and asked, "That was a joke, right?" Slade glared down at him silently. "You're the one playing the stupid game, Slade. The world is your playing field. You have all your pawns that you move here and there. Everyone is just one of your pawns! Some are easy as pie to move, but then others are harder and need blackmail or something else to make them go your way. So tell me, Slade. What's the goal of your game?"

"It has many goals," Slade answered calmly. He then kneeled down to Abe's height and said, "And the game will be won. You, one of my 'pawns', can't stop me. And by now you should know that I play this game pretty well. And I will play it as hard as I can. If I have to cheat, I'm willing to do so."

"I'm not one of your pawns," Abe spat out.

"You might not be," Slade said with a simple shrug, "But I can still make you move the direction I want."

This pushed Abe over the edge. With a loud battle yell, he threw himself at Slade in an attempt to hurt him. The robots holding onto him pulled him back, though. Abe was only able to get his head an inch away from Slade's because of the pull of the robots on his small body. Slade stood back up and stared down at the boy yelling incoherently at him. He had a bit of a temper. No patience at all. Robin had more than him.

Slade finally had enough of observing the boy. He suddenly grabbed the front of Abe's shirt and forcefully dragged him over to the edge of the building. Abe caught onto the action quickly and tried to stop Slade, but he was just too small to do any damage to the man. James stiffened in the grip the robots had on him as he saw the confidence in his child vanish for a few uncertain seconds. Even though Abe was portraying such a cocky person, only his father could see that he was scared to death. Maybe Slade knew this as well.

Once the two were at the edge, Slade swung the small boy out over the edge of the roof with one hand gripping the boy's shirt. Abe gave a small yell of fright while grabbing Slade's hand that was holding onto his shirt so that he wouldn't fall if he let him go. He glanced down with wide eyes at all the cars zipping around below him. No one on the busy streets noticed him dangling dangerously over the tall building.

"Now," Slade said casually to Abe. "I won't ask you where they are anymore. I'll believe your answer for now. But I'll ask this. How could I find them?"

"Don't you have some tracking device on Robin?" Abe asked him like the man was some idiot.

"He destroyed his communicator right after running away," Slade answered blankly. He then waited for his answer. Abe knew how to contact his sister, but he wasn't about to give Slade any information just yet. He was only thinking logically. He knew Slade was going to do more damage if he ever broke Robin down and the teen was finally forced to take his place. So maybe Abe would be saving lives if he kept his mouth shut. If he had to die to save other people in the future, he was okay with that because it meant the world would be gaining something. But that didn't mean that he wasn't scared of losing his life.

"You mean you went after him?" Abe asked Slade. "You should have put more effort into capturing him than me because you did an excellent job at bringing me down in that muddy river." It then dawned on him and he smiled slyly. "You were confident that I would tell you where they are! Well, not a chance, Slade! Mums the word."

"Don't you value your life?" Slade asked him. He started to loosen his grip on the kid's shirt and let him slip a little. Abe gave a short yell of surprise as he dropped a few inches, but Slade tightened his grip at the last second. Slade smiled wickedly as he saw the look of panic on the boy's face. He was scared. And so was James. Why didn't his son just give him the answers and not push it? Why was he so willing to die?

Abe got a hold onto himself and his look terror was quickly erased. "Of course I care about my life," he spat back at Slade. "I've just learned everything I've could, analyzed the situation at hand, chosen a course of action, and now I'm doing it boldly. Know, think, choose, do. It's a smart way of solving simple problems."

"So you think this is simple?" Slade asked the kid, amused. Actually the kid was making lots of sense to him. Slade went through that process of thinking all the time. He was entertained by the boy's intelligence for such a young age.

Before Abe could answer the man, James yelled at him, "Abraham! Cut it out before you kill yourself! I can't let you do that. No more of this family is going to die. Think about your sister and me! We couldn't bear to have you be killed too!" James kicked himself mentally for giving Slade everything that he needed. He hated to give up so easily, but the only way to knock Abe out of his decision mode was to give him a better reason. Abe would have never told Slade where his sister was if James hadn't spoken up, and the father knew that all too well. But he just didn't want to lose his son.

There was silence as Abe stared at his dad with a sad look in his eyes. He then gave a sigh before turning his eyes back to Slade. He gave the man a weak smile and said, "Unfortunately, that whole system of know, think, choose, do does not have any space in it for feel." Abe just knew that Slade was smiling at him under that mask as he spoke. "And sometimes to be human, I have to screw the system."

"And that's what makes you weak," Slade said wickedly to the boy with that smile still on his lips. He had won.

- Robin -

"I'll take the first shift," Robin said quietly to Sam. They were both in a dark and damp alley somewhere in Pulcallpa. It was around three in the morning, and the two had gone out of their way to make sure those robots weren't after them. They had finally settled down in the alley with weary eyes and worn bodies just begging for rest. Sam didn't protest about sleeping first.

"Thank you, Robin," Sam whispered back to the teen as she curled up into a ball on the muddy ground under her. She closed her eyes and let her body relax and calm down. Robin wanted to sit down next to her and rest his body as well, but that would only send him off to dream land. He had to keep on his toes. He couldn't take any chances.

Robin paced the alley in front of Sam while eating something he had stuffed into his backpack before leaving the hotel in a rush. His eyes were sharp and his keen hearing stretched out to capture all kinds of sounds that could be any possible danger coming their way. He kept all his senses alert.

He would sometimes look up to see if anyone was watching them from above. He was only met with a black sky full of bright stars. He gave a small sigh while staring up at them. He remembered when he was in Italy and had his memory erased. He had come out to look at the stars at that time as well. He had been searching for an answer in them.

Robin gave a small laugh at the thought. The stars were a wonderful sight, but they would give him no such answers. He made his own answers. He was the one in control of his life. The stars couldn't do anything for him but give him comfort and hope at times, just like it was doing to him now. Was one of his friends looking into this same sky right now? Oh, how he missed them! But he would see them again. He promised himself this.

Suddenly Sam's cell phone rang. Robin gave a small jump from the unexpected sound that now echoed noisily through the whole alley they were in. It woke Sam up with a loud gasp of fright, and she quickly answered it up with wide eyes. She was deeply afraid someone had heard it ring.

"Yes?" she asked quietly into the phone. Robin and her made eye contact, and he gave her a small nod to keep going as he kept being lookout. He sure hoped no one had heard them.

"Abe?" she asked into the phone with great surprise in her voice. "I thought Slade or someone got to you because you didn't call earlier! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Robin glanced behind his shoulder to the girl and his eyes narrowed. She should hang up. It was a trick. Slade had gotten Abe and was now getting him to somehow call the two and get them to fall into a trap just like he had done with James so many times. Didn't Sam see this?

"Meet you in Lima?" she asked Abe while staring back at Robin boldly. "Well, we will try. No, Abe, we won't just stay here! You're impossible to talk with over the phone! Fine! We will meet you in Lima tomorrow morning. Happy now? Good! I hope you get a bumpy plane trip there, loser!" She then hung up with a smug smile on her face.

Robin gave her an odd look. She was acting kind of strange. Shouldn't she be feeling happy that her brother was okay for now? Why was she giving him such a weird look as if she was proud of herself for something?

"Convincing?" she asked him slyly. "Do you think Slade will take the bait?"

Robin then got it. She had thought the same thing he had during that fake conversation with her brother. He then smiled wickedly down at her and said, "You're good."

"I try my best," she said with a simple shrug.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter sucked out loud. I had writers block for the ending part and didn't know really what to do. And I have an important update for all you readers. I'm going to Peru with my dad for a whole week and will be missing school. When I get back I'll have midterms to deal with and a whole bunch of homework to make up for my teachers. So I will not be updating this fic till the 3rd of Feb. Sorry if that seems like a long time. I just have lots on my plate. But please give a review! Thanks!


	19. Chapter 19 Money Shortage

A/N: I miss the 80 degree weather back in Lima. PA snowy, cold weather sucks! Oh well, at least now everything is in English and people drive the speed limit. I had a blast in Peru, though! I was sick most of the time, so most of the food never stayed in my stomach for too long. That was the only down side to the trip.

BIG UPDATE: New email address, people! My parents are sick of having my emails shared with theirs, so I have a new one that you can find on my bio on this site. Send everything to that new one!

Enjoy the long awaited update!

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter 19 Money Shortage

Abe gave a sigh while hearing his sister hang up on the other end of his cell phone. It had been hard to keep his voice steady and right when he was still dangling 20 stories above a buzzing street with cars zipping every which way for destinations unknown. He didn't know if his sister had bought his false conversation, but he had only said a few things and given a few orders. She would be calling him again, so that meant Slade had to keep him till then. Abe's quick thinking saved him maybe a few extra hours to live. But the boy didn't know how the mad man was going to react to this.

The boy let out a sharp yell right after he gave his cell phone back to Slade. The man had suddenly thrown him down onto the concrete roof in one powerful motion with his arm. Abe rolled painfully a few times with a few winces as his skin scratched against the course surface. He finally came to rest on his butt and looked up with wide eyes of fright to see Slade coming after him.

"You did that on purpose," Slade hissed at the boy while grabbing him by the front of his mud laden shirt. He pulled the scared kid to his feet and walked him backwards. That little slip of anger was making the kid extremely frightened for his life. Slade knew that Abe wasn't stupid. His sister would have to call him back in a few hours. Slade didn't want to keep Abe around for a couple of extra hours! It only made the masked man annoyed. His patience was being pushed to its limits with this smart kid.

"So?" Abe managed to get out of his mouth while trying his hardest to pull out of Slade's hold on his shirt. He let out another small cry of fright as Slade roughly pushed him backwards and into the hands of some of his robots. Abe quickly got over his scare and lashed out at Slade with a lightning quick roundhouse kick before the robots could pull him back from the man.

Slade simply caught the boy's ankle in both hands and glared down at the little annoyance. Abe returned the glare till he realized that Slade wasn't letting go of his leg. The kid was a bit surprised that the guy was that fast. He was skilled beyond his years. But now Abe was in panic. He heard his dad yell his name to warn him as he opened his mouth to say something. It was too late.

In one sharp motion, Slade twisted the boy's ankle in his hands with a small wicked smile coming to lips under his mask. He heard a small pop that was followed by a loud cry of pain from the boy. Slade let Abe's leg go and watched him silently as he dropped to the ground with extreme blasts of pain shooting up his leg that had been damaged by Slade. The man was very satisfied to see the boy look down to hide his tears of suffering. James was freaking out now and was ready to kill someone to go and be with his hurt son and comfort him.

"Let that be a warning to you," Slade said coldly down to the boy. Abe gave a wince while lifting up his head to look Slade in the eye. Small salty tears slowly dripped down the side of his face, but he quickly sucked up his pain to glare his extreme hatred to the man standing menacingly over him. Slade silently gave the boy some credit for endurance. But the thought was quickly vanishing.

"Take the boy away," Slade said to his robots with the wave of his hand. "Drive him to the hideout, give him a small shower, and then lock him in a room with the girl. If he protests in any way kill the girl. She is beginning to lose her use to me. Keep the man here." The tone in his voice almost seemed bored in the subject. After his orders, the man started to walk away and left the robots to do what they were told.

Abe winced while being pulled to his feet. His ankle was now swelling up profusely and giving him a lot of pain. But the boy didn't say anything as he limped his way to the stairs with Valentine right behind him. He only looked up to James with worry in his eyes.

James's face showed a mix of anger, suffering, worry, and sadness as he watched his son leave. He wanted to say so many things to Abe, but he had such little time to do so. He mouthed the most important words we wanted to tell his son. _"I love you."_

Those three words put a weak smile to Abe's lips as he responded the only way he could. _"I love you too."_ And then he was gone. The boy slowly made his way to the elevator and it was the ride down to ground level that the robots were smart enough to tie the kid's hands behind him. Valentine was already bound.

"How's it going?" Abe asked a robot with a teasing smile coming to his face. He glanced to Val and he smiled on the inside when seeing her shoot him a weak grin. "I've always liked you," he told the robot and nicely succeeded in making the girl next to him smile at him for his cocky sense of humor. Jake always had that kind of humor in him, and right now just getting a little taste of her brother was enough to make Val smile.

How long had they been separated? She was beginning to forget how he looked now. She had only seen Slade and his robots for the past two weeks. She had forced her mind to not dwell on his health or what he was doing. She didn't want to worry about him because that would only overwhelm her brain. She didn't want to go insane over the stress. But seeing Abe was so refreshing to her that the girl realized how much she missed Jake.

The two kids were forced into the car that had brought Abe there. Valentine was shoved into it first with a robot sitting in the middle of the two. Abe guessed that Slade must have programmed his robots to be violent as one of them pushed him roughly into the car and didn't care that the kid managed to bang his head against the side before entering. He gave a small gasp as the door was slammed in his face right when he sat down. He then heard it lock and quickly they were speeding off into the street with all the other cars swarming around them.

Abe stared out the window the whole time and tried to memorize what roads and streets they were on so if he ever did escape he could know where to go if he wanted to rescue his dad from this place he was now going to. He wanted to know why Slade kept his father on the roof top. He really hoped that Slade wouldn't hurt him, but if he knew Slade enough, he knew for sure he would do something to his dad.

It didn't take long for them to get to Slade's hideout. They stopped right outside a wall that looked just like all the others that held homes in them. The two were forced through the metal door and they finally got to see where they were going to be held.

It was an old, run down apartment building with very little windows and only two floors. The yard leading up to it was just dirt with little patches of grass sticking up randomly. Deep green vines pretty much had engulfed the whole house. Abe and Val just thought the place was creepy as heck, and they gave each other uncertain glances before they were pushed ahead and into the house.

"Talk about your fixer upper," Abe muttered while looking around. The kitchen was dimly lit by one light bulb that was on the ends of its rope and blinking on and off every so often. The sink was rusty, and the cabinets looked to be infested with termites and were breaking apart.

The living room was just a bit better looking than the foreboding kitchen they passed. It looked like Slade had decided to make this room his makeshift headquarters for the time being. Plastic tables were off to one side with little gadgets the man had been working on. A TV was showing static off to the other corner of the room. The two couches with fading and ripped cushions faced each other with a weak coffee table in between.

The two were forced upstairs and by now Abe couldn't take the pain of his ankle anymore and cried out a few times on the last few steps to the second floor. Val then went one way while he went the other. Abe was jerked down the hallway to the bathroom and was forced into it.

"Slade was kidding when he told you guys to let me take a shower," Abe said to the robots as he stumbled into the shower with a small wince. "Don't you guys know the difference between being serious and sardonic humor?" The robots only turned on the cold water, which was brownish, and made him stand under it.

"Curse that man!" Abe yelled while shivering in the ice cold water poring down on his head and slowly covering his muddy body. The boy was now angry at himself for getting in a position like this. One big rule when working for the CIA was never, ever get caught. So far Abe had obeyed the rule. This was his first time getting caught and he was scared to death. He could get killed, tortured, or kept in captivity till who knows when! The thought was freaking him out.

The shower didn't last long. The robots were smart enough to do a few things on their own and obey their creator's commands perfectly, but they didn't get it like humans did. As gentle as a chain saw, Abe was dragged out of the bathroom with his clothes soaking wet and hair hanging in his face. He was still a bit muddy, but the cold shower had helped his appearance somewhat.

A loud yell escaped the boy's mouth as he was simply thrown into the same room as Valentine with his hands still tied behind him. Val was already sitting in a corner looking depressed and hopeless. Just one look at her and anybody would cry.

Abe stood in the middle of the room with his body still shaking from the extremely cold shower. He closed his eyes as hot tears threatened to escape his eyes. He bit his lower lip to try and stop himself from breaking down and crying a second time that night. Everything just seemed so hopeless and bleak. His family, Val, the Titans, and even himself were going to die in the hands of Slade. The only one who would be left living would be Robin, but Abe knew that after this was over and Slade won, the teen would rather be dead than alive. Abe couldn't help but think that Slade had already won. It was finished.

"Help, Lord," he whispered while hanging his head. He felt no comfort at first and finally just leaned against the wall a few feet away from Val. He slid down the wall and sat on the stained carpet in the nearly black room with a sad sigh. Then the help came.

He wasn't alone! He had Valentine right here sitting next to him! A determined smile came to his lips as he thought over what to say to her quickly in his mind. He pieced together a few good theories of what she would say and how to answer her. In no time at all he had a pretty good plan forming in his head. Absentmindedly he prayed a small thanks before opening his mouth to ask Val a question.

"Where do you stand in this mess Slade has made?" he asked her while making eye contact in the darkness of the room. She stared silently at him for a few seconds then looked back down at her feet with a look of thought in her eyes.

"Jake promised me that we would both be okay," Val finally said quietly. "For a long time I thought I would just be sitting here till he got the job done. But now I know that Slade will kill me at any time now." Abe's face softened as he heard a quiet sob from her as she said, "I don't want to die!"

Abe didn't know who this Jake guy was. Maybe it was a friend, father, or older brother working for Slade because the man had captured her as blackmail. But these thoughts were only simple hypothesizes. He couldn't be sure about them.

"We will be fine," Abe said quickly to her before she totally broke down before him. He needed her to be strong and have faith in him for his plan to work. "If you can pull yourself together and listen to me, we might have a chance of living this ordeal."

Surprisingly, Valentine dried up her tears quickly and looked at him thoughtfully. "You have a plan?" she asked him hopefully.

Abe smiled slightly before answering, "You beat. But some of the stuff I want to do will be dangerous. Are you willing to go through with it?"

Val actually smiled as hope filled her empty heart for the first time in weeks. "I'll try," she said with a nod.

"Good!" Abe said with his grin widening. "First, let's get out of these ropes!"

-Robin-

The boy paced the alleyway with his eyes narrowed. His brain was focused on the things and options before him as Sam rambled on about what they had packed in their bags before fleeing the hotel room so suddenly. Robin knew that he had to get back home, but he couldn't and wouldn't do that till he knew others would be okay with him going. Val would be one of them.

He wanted to think through things before blindly doing stuff. He hadn't forgotten that day Jessica had killed everyone in that airport because of his selfish thoughts. Think first, actions later. That concept of thinking had to be put into use at this point or innocent people might get killed because of him.

"And we don't have enough money," Sam said with a frustrated sigh as she had finished dumping all the contents of the bags out on the ground. "Crap," she added while staring at the things.

"You mean I didn't grab the money before we left?" Robin asked her with a look of confusion on his face. "I could have sworn I had."

"No, you got it all," Sam said with her voice having a bitter tone in it. "It's just that Pucallpa only has one airport, and one ticket is a hundred dollars to get to Lima. We don't have much because Abe has most of it, and we spent a lot getting here and on other things. So we only have enough for maybe one person getting over there."

"We're not splitting up," Robin said quickly while going back to his pacing.

"I know," Sam said. "And we are not going to take the bus to Lima. I refuse to do that! It would take three or five days to get there anyways. I just don't see any other way to get to Lima. What do we do?"

Robin stopped pacing and rubbed his forehead as he suddenly had a few memory flashes of his team asking him that same question. _Why do they have to be so painful?_ He thought to himself before going back to normal. Sam was looking at him with concern in her eyes. She was worried about him.

"I'm fine," he said to her quickly. "Do you know any local pilot who could fly us there for cheap?" he asked her with a shrug. He really didn't know what to do. She had been the one who had traveled all over the place and would know what to do. He didn't understand why she was asking him for help.

It was like in the movies when light bulbs turn on above someone's head when he said that to Sam. He let himself express something like a grin when seeing her brighten up suddenly with her eyes lighting up as the thought came to her. "The missionaries!"

"The who?" Robin asked with a puzzled look planted on his face. "Please explain."

"No time!" Sam said in a rush as she stuffed the food and things back into the backpacks. "Let me just show you!" And they were off!

- ? -

Greg Horwitz slowly and calmly walked out onto his screen porch with a small smile on his lips. He silently watched the beautiful sunrise unfold before him on the horizon of the lake. A light mist was coming off the lake and making the air around him cool. The frogs and bugs were calming down for the day and would go back to sleeping till the next night.

Greg loved his life as a missionary in Peru. He had been a kid growing up here and loved it all his life. His wife and own two kids were in love with the country as well. Most of the time everything around them was at peace. Sure, they had their problems, but right now everything was tranquil for Greg and his life.

_BAM!_

The man gave a short gasp and jump from the sound of his front door being busted open so suddenly. He rushed back into the living room to see two confused kids in his kitchen looking around for someone frantically. They looked American, so they were not robbers. He wondered why they were here.

"Can I help you two intruders?" Greg asked them with a wry smile.

They both looked his way before the boy with the strange mask over his eyes said quickly, "We need a cheap flight to Lima…now!"

-Robin-

He stared at himself in the lightened up mirror with a mix of sadness and disgust on his face. Greg's wife, Heather, stood behind him with the bottle of very cheap blonde die in one hand and his used towel in the other. She smiled at him while her two daughters giggled in the doorway at his new look.

"I look like an oblivious freaking tourist!" he said with a deep sigh. He ran a hand through his now spiky **blonde** hair with a wince at his new appearance. The drastic change was for when Sam and Robin arrived in Lima and when they went looking for Slade. They wanted to see him but not for him to see them. And that was the reason why Robin's hair was now blonde…or an attempt at blondeness. His hair had been too dark for the cheap die to really work.

"You will have to get ride of the mask as well," Heather told him like she was already his mother.

"Yeah, I know," Robin sighed while walking off to a bedroom and getting dressed into some shorts and T-shirt that said in bold letters "I love llamas!" Robin could only shake his head while pulling the fabric over his head. He then slipped on some flip flips while taking off his mask. He stuck it into his pocket and then put on some big, dark sunglasses so no one could see his eyes. He was ready.

The two daughters that were around his age were still giggling and laughing at him as he walked out of the house and up to where Sam and Greg were by the small airplane they were getting ready. Sam hadn't had to change her appearance like Robin because she could always use her morphing powers to easily do so.

Robin felt his cheeks turning a bit red when Sam looked up and stared at him with a wide grin on her face as she summed him up. Greg actually gave a small laugh and yelled over to him, "You sure do look like someone who knows absolutely no Spanish and came out here looking for llamas."

The teen stuffed his hands into his pockets with another sigh. By this time both Greg and Sam where laughing at him. Robin just rolled his eyes and kept telling himself that it would be worth it in the end. Plus, the die would come out in the shower…he hoped.

"Nice hair, Boy Wonder," Sam said while flicking the top of it with a smug smile coming to her lips.

"Thanks," Robin responded nonchalantly with a smooth nod. Sam gave him a small giggle as her cheeks turned red for a second.

"We better get going, kids," Greg said to them while hopping into his side of the small plane. The two looked up to him and then gave each other smiles of hope. They were on their way to Lima!

-A Few Hours Later-

"Here are a few extra soles to get you around by taxi," Greg said to Sam while giving her a few coins and dollars in Peru's currency, which was called soles. The three had just landed on the airport strip and were talking for a few minutes in the plane before Greg flew back to his family in Pucallpa.

"Thank you so much for flying us here for free," Sam said to Greg with a giant smile on her face.

"Yes," Robin added with a steady nod. "I wish we could repay your kindness somehow."

"How 'bout you get back to the States and your team safely," Greg said. Sam jumped out of her side of the plane and out into the hot air of the South American country with another thank you to the man. Robin slid over to her side to use her door until Greg put a hand on his shoulder.

"You need something?" Robin asked him.

There was a deep seriousness on Greg's face and in his voice as he told Robin, "Things are going to get real hard for you soon. And I know you don't have the same belief system as I do, so trying to shove some message about God won't do any help to you right now. But I want to give you one piece of advice before you leave, Robin."

"I'm listening," Robin said quietly with a slight nod. The trip to Lima let the two talk for a few hours. Over that two hour period, Robin had started to respect the man greatly. He was kind and seemed to know everything even though Robin knew that Greg didn't. But whatever he said, Robin would take very serious.

"This might sound really stupid to you," Greg said. "But, Robin, never EVER give up! Don't say that you'll try. Just don't give up. I just thought that was what you needed to hear for some reason. Remember it!"

"I will," Robin said with another nod. "It was kind of random. You never know, I might just remember your words and stick to them sometime soon," Robin said in a half joking matter. He then gave Greg a warm smile and said, "But thanks."

"Now, go!" Greg said while pushing Robin out of his plane. "Sam is waiting for you. Keep a sharp eye on her. Girls always like to do things themselves."

Robin let himself give a small laugh as he walked away from the plane and over to where Sam was waiting for him by the doors of the airport. "What did he say that made you laugh for the first time in forever?" she asked him with her hands on her hips.

"Does it really matter?" he asked her with a wry smile. She gave him a look while following him into the airport. The joking and light mood they were enjoying quickly disintegrated as they came into the big room that led to the outside of the airport. Both stopped in their tracks while trying to keep down gasps of the horror before them.

Dozens of Slade-bots swarmed the place with papers all showing the one face Slade wanted to see most…Robin's.

A/N: I wanted to leave you guys at a cliffhanger. I know this chapter was a bit boring, but it was a bit important…somehow. Oh! And Greg and his family are real except for that last name I put in there. I stayed at their house in Pucallpa when I went to Peru a few weeks ago. And I'm sorry if Robin has been acting a little different lately. This was the last chapter of him really acting that strange way. That is all I need to say except that if you didn't see the beginning author's note at the top, I have changed my email address. Check it out on my bio! Don't send anything else to my old address! My parents are getting sick of seeing all my updates and junk from this site. But please give a review! Thanks!


	20. Chapter 20 Failed Escape

A/N: I finally reached my goal of 100 reviews before my 20th chapter! It makes me happy somewhat. But besides that I have nothing else to say. Enjoy the chapter and please give a review when you're done!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Teen Titans.

Chapter 20 Failed Escape

At first Robin's brain was in a lock as he stared out from the balcony of the second floor onto the first one. He was in disbelief for a few seconds. There was just so many Slade-bots looking for him that it didn't seem possible that he could even get one step out of the airport without them finding him. But the superhero quickly bounced back and already had a plan forming in his head.

"Go to the bathroom and change into a Peruvian," Robin whispered down to Sam. "Meet me outside at a taxi. Give me some money before you leave, though." Sam glanced up to him, but did what he said silently. She then headed to a bathroom nearby. She knew that she had to fully trust Robin for now on. The girl only hoped that he knew what he was doing.

Robin adjusted his dark sunglasses before walking into the crowd heading for the escalators to the first floor. He kept his head up straight and his ears alert. His heart pounded loudly whenever he brushed past a Slade-bot as casually as he could. Hope flittered into his heart as he was only a few feet away from the doors heading to the outside. He was going to make it.

The heat of Lima swarmed around his body once he stepped outside. He silently observed the different people running around with suitcases and backpacks coming and going from the airport. Taxies lined the sidewalk for as far as his eyes could see. The Spanish language flew from every tongue so smoothly that Robin was tempted to use it as well to blend in. But he reminded himself who he was trying to portray for the time being.

It was now or never. He had to stand out from the crowd even though it was so risky. "Um…taxi!" Robin yelled as loudly as he could in English. "Some help here!" He noticed the people around him were giving him some looks while little kids pointed to him with smiles. Robin saw in the corner of his eye that two Slade-bots were staring at him.

A taxi driver ran up to him with a smile and said a few things in Spanish to Robin. The teen had picked up the language pretty quickly and knew most of what the guy had said to him, but to a good tourist he had to pretend he had no idea what he was saying.

"I…I don't know what you're saying, dude," Robin said while shrugging his shoulders. A flash of pain racked his brain when getting some memories of Beast Boy saying dude flew into his mind. These memory flashes were starting to really annoy the teen. He rubbed his forehead and tried to get over the pain while asking the taxi driver, "Do you speak English?"

Suddenly someone bumped into him from behind and made him pitch forward a little as his balance left him for a few seconds. He regained posture and glared at whoever had shoved their elbow into his back like that. Robin felt his heart skip a beat while seeing Slade himself walking away with his one eye boring down at him with silent interest in it. "Jeez!" Robin muttered to him while turning back to the taxi driver in front of him. He tried to ignore the mad man watching him. Did he know that the stupid tourist was Robin or not?

"Sir, I know English," a voice said from behind him. Robin turned around with a fake smile on his lips. He saw that it was Sam as a Peruvian woman. He knew it was her only because of her eyes. She had said that the hardest thing to change was the gender and the eyes when morphing into someone else. That was why she only stuck with being a woman and didn't change her eye color when changing.

"Great!" Robin said. He gave the taxi driver the money Sam had given to him earlier while saying to Sam, "Tell him that I want to go to my hotel."

"Si," she said with a small nod. She told the taxi driver a few things in Spanish flawlessly. Robin watched her while feeling the stare of Slade on his back. He realized that the man was only watching him because he had some thoughts that he was Robin but wasn't sure enough to go after him. So far the teen was acting just like a normal tourist and didn't seem like Robin.

A relieved sigh escaped Robin as he got into the taxi with Sam following right behind him. He didn't bother to buckle up as he rolled down his window to get some cool air. He avoided looking at Slade who was still watching him from the airport doors. At the corner of his eye, Robin saw Slade have second thoughts about him and leave after listening to something in his ear. The man gave Robin one last glance before walking back into the airport.

Robin gave Sam a wide grin while leaning back in his seat. Sam shot him a confused look before making conversation with the taxi driver. The taxi started up and quickly picked up speed once they got on the road leading into the city. It had worked! His plan had worked!

_Maybe I do have some leadership skills somewhere in me,_ Robin thought confidently to himself while closing his eyes and letting his body finally relax for the car ride to their destination.

-Sam-

"Gracias," Sam muttered to the lady at the counter of the small open store. She took the bag of breakfast bars and left the store at a slow pace. She adjusted her glasses while stopping at an intersection and waited for cars to go by. She hoped Robin was okay where she had left him. He was acting more serious and quiet lately. The girl knew he was acting more like himself when being so focused on their mission, but she kind of missed that wry or goofy smile he used to always give her.

The girl gave a heavy sigh while realizing that she had let her emotions take a toll on her. She mentally kicked herself for letting herself develop a crush on the leader. She just couldn't help it. He was strong looking and lithe. But his handsome looks were only half of it. He was thoughtful and caring somewhat, even though she knew he didn't mean to be because that was what leaders were just trained to be like. He was careful yet so daring.

But it was just a simple crush, she knew. It wouldn't go anywhere. It was just annoying to her that whenever she looked at Robin she would get nervous. Boy, Abe would have a hay day if he ever knew what she was thinking.

But now that she thought about it, she had so many reasons to be so deeply annoyed with the leader. He kept all of his emotions inside of him and nowadays wouldn't even give her a smile or a hint of one. She really didn't like him because of that. What was he trying to prove with those kinds of actions? And with half of his memory still gone, it seemed like he was making things up on the spot. He needed to pull himself together already and think things through.

Sam walked into an alleyway and climbed up a fire escape to the top of a six story building. They couldn't afford a hotel room, so they were stuck with a roof. She was just thankful that it never rained in Lima. She gasped when seeing the teen sitting crossed-legged and messing with her computer equipment that she had specifically told him not to touch until she was able to put it together.

"I thought I would put it together for you," Robin said while staring at the laptop computer screen in front of him. "I was kind of surprised that I knew how to work computers, though. When did I learn how too, I wonder."

"Batman," Sam answered for him while throwing a breakfast bar at him sharply with full intentions in hurting him somehow. She smiled wickedly while seeing it whack into the back of his head and made him give a small shout of surprise. He turned around sharply while rubbing his head. He cast a glare of annoyance and confusion at her before getting up and walking to the other side of the roof with his food.

Sam sat down at her computer but couldn't get started without an apology to the leader for her spastic actions. She gave a heavy sigh before saying, "Sorry for hitting you. I…"

"No problem," he cut her off while sitting on the edge of the roof. "I was the one who messed with your computer. Don't worry about it." He gave a small shrug while biting into his bar. Sam could tell that with his nerves he wasn't too hungry and was making himself eat. He then looked up to her and randomly said, "I think I know how to stall some time for your brother and us."

Sam gave him a puzzled look of half confusion and irritation at his random thoughts. "You're way ahead of me, Robin," she told him. "Come back down to earth and tell me what you're thinking. You're brain has been in overdrive all day long. Slow it down."

Robin ran a hand through his hair while pondering the thought of telling her the things in his mind. He looked at his hand and saw some blonde die on it. He gave a disgusted look at his hand while wiping it off on his khaki shorts. "You and I already know that Abe and James are with Slade," he started while getting up and pacing.

"James?" Sam asked. "Oh, you mean my dad. Sorry!" She blushed for her stupid mix up. Robin didn't seem to notice her confusion and was picking his words carefully for once. She watched him with concern on her face. He didn't look okay anymore. He looked tiered and even defeated somewhat. But at least he was still pushing through his rough time.

"You said this morning that you didn't want to take the bus all the way to Lima because it would take a few days to get here," Robin said while stopping and making eye contact with Sam. "Slade only uses people if he needs them somehow. He's keeping both of them alive because we have to call them again. He still thinks that maybe we don't know what's going on. What if we tell Abe and Slade we are really taking the bus to Lima? It could buy us a lot of time."

Sam locked eyes with the Boy Wonder as her mind thought over the idea. She caught a glimpse of that old Robin when he gave her his trademark wry smile and said, "Not a bad idea, huh?"

"No," she said with a smile of her own. "Not bad at all. Maybe your brain being in overdrive isn't such a terrible thing after all. Keep thinking like that and we might just pull through."

"I hope so," Robin mumbled to himself while looking away. Even though he had said it to himself, the girl still heard him clearly. He was still unsure of himself.

-Abe-

"Its noon," Abe announced to Valentine after a glance at his watch. "And all we've accomplished is being able to untie ourselves."

"Maybe if we don't eat for days we could fit into that small vent," Val said wearily while pointing upwards. They were both sitting across from each other and leaning against the walls with defeat. They had been working at a way to get out of the room since two or three in the morning. They were tiered, hungry, thirsty, and hot. Super hot! They had nothing to cool themselves down.

"Is this how Slade takes care of his slaves?" Abe asked the girl while wiping off his muddy sweat from his forehead. He only was able to smear the crusty mud with more sweat. "Jeez! It's hot!"

"This is better than Italy," Val said with an exhausted sigh. "That place was cold and wet and I didn't see anyone for a few weeks except Slade or his robots when they fed me. Speaking of food, when do we get some? I'm starving!"

"And hot!" Abe added. Valentine gave a giggle that ended with another small sigh. Abe smiled to himself while noticing that the girl was coming out her shell around him. While they had been searching for a way out, they had talked about their lives and how they ended up where they now were. The two kids shared a small bond. Abe was so thankful to have this girl around right now. Without her he just knew he would be a royal mess by at the moment.

"Once we get back to the States, what is the first thing you want to eat?" she suddenly asked him randomly.

Abe couldn't help but laugh from her randomness. He thought for a few seconds before answering, "I would love to just get a whole pizza from that pizza shop on the corner a block away from my house in New York. With a Coke and their awesome bread sticks! And I would like a big fan blowing on me! That would be nice."

"Aw! Now you're making me droll, idiot!" Val said with a laugh.

"You're the one who asked me," Abe said with a chuckle. "Now, same question."

"Ice cream!" Val said like it was the best thing in the world, "With every kind of topping on it! Now, that would be heaven."

"Just add a fan," Abe added once again.

"But ice cream is cold and would cool you down enough," Val said. "You wouldn't need a fan."

"True," Abe said with a nod.

Without any warning whatsoever, the door slammed open and in came two Slade-bots. Valentine gave a sharp scream of surprise, while Abe shot to his feet with his eyes going wide in fright. The two robots grabbed Abe roughly and pulled him out of the room. The door was slammed shut and Valentine was left alone once again. Abe could hear her pound the door and scream. She thought he was going to die! Was he? That thought only made Abe panic.

Abe was forced down the stairs to the first floor. His ankle was still giving him a lot of grief and he couldn't help but wince a few times. In the hot room the temperature had taken his mind off his ankle, now the pain was back again. He struggled fruitlessly against the two robots and yelled a few things just to get his anger and fright out of his system.

The kid stumbled into the living room and right away spotted Slade sitting on the couch waiting for him. Abe was escorted to the couch across from the man and tried his best to hide his fright. He wasn't doing a good job with it, though. He didn't want to admit that he was utterly petrified. He had a sick feeling that this was going to be the place he was going to die.

"Sit," Slade ordered him and right away the two robots on each side of him shoved him into the couch. Abe could barely breathe as he felt like his heart was going to bust out of his chest at the rate it was going. The only thing he could hear was the beating of it as it pounded away inside of him. But he stayed silent as he waited for his life to be taken.

Then he spotted the cell phone on the coffee table between them. His fright was calmed down a little as a look of curiosity came to his face. It was attached to some wires that lead to a computer tracking device. He glanced back to Slade with a mix of anger and awareness washing over his face. Slade just kept staring at him silently.

The ring of the cell phone suddenly echoed out into the room loudly. They must have called a few minutes ago and was calling for a second time. Abe knew what he had to do next. He slowly reached for the cell phone. He hesitated for a second with regrets flying into the back of his head. The kid then pressed his lips together and grabbed the cell phone off the table, opened it, and then quickly put it on speaker phone for the whole room to hear the conversation soon to come.

"Abe?" Robin's voice came out from the little device now sitting back on the coffee table. Slade glanced to a robot standing near the computer and gave it a nod. Abe saw it push a button and quickly the computer tried to track the phone call to see where it was coming from.

"Hey, Robin," Abe said as normally as he could. "Sorry for not picking up the last time you called. I was a bit busy." Abe glanced up to Slade to see if he was saying the right thing and was approved with a single nod. "So what's the call for? Are you in Lima yet?"

"Well, no," Robin answered with a frustrated sigh. "We searched all night for some way to get to Lima for cheap because we don't have enough money, but the only way possible was to take the bus."

Abe saw Slade's eye narrow a little from either anger or annoyance. The kid leaned forward while rubbing his chin as if in thought. This would buy him and Val so much more time now! The thought made Abe's heart jump for joy. But he didn't let any of those emotions out and played it cool.

"Not the bus," he said with a wince. "That takes at least two days to get to Lima! Are you sure?"

Abe heard Robin sigh on the other end. "So far it is the only way," Robin said. "Sam and I don't want to split up. Plus, we need to save our money for when we get to Lima. We are on a food shortage also."

"Well, do you have a plan so far?" Abe asked. If Robin was smart, he wouldn't tell him it on the phone. But maybe he would if he knew that he really had been captured by Slade.

"Yeah, but not much," Robin answered. "We'll plot once we meet in Lima in a few days. We'll call you once we get there. Be careful, okay?"

"You too," Abe said. He then heard Robin hang up and so he did the same thing. Abe noticed that they hadn't talked long enough to let them track the call. They had only needed two more seconds, but Slade didn't seem to care because it seemed like Robin was still in Pucallpa.

There was silence as Slade thought over the conversation for a few seconds. Abe stared up at him with mixed feelings in him. Was the man pondering over his life? Abe didn't want to stick around to find out. He suddenly kicked the coffee table with one foot and knocked into the back of the couch. The piece of furniture was so unstable that it tipped over just like Abe predicted.

The kid rolled to his feet swiftly and then bolted out of the room. He stopped at the stairs and pushed through the pain in his ankle as he took them two at a time. The robot standing guard for Valentine's room didn't know what was going on till it was too late and a giant dent was in its head.

"Val!" Abe yelled while kicking the lock off the door and flinging it open. The girl gave a sharp gasp while looking up at him with surprise in her big, green eyes. She had been crying. But now she dried up her tears and ran to Abe. He grabbed her hand and started back the way he had come with the girl following faithfully behind him.

Slade-bots were already racing up the stairs toward them. Abe thought for a second then spotted a window straight ahead. "C'mon!" he yelled to Val while sprinting toward the window. He smashed the window with a fist and Val gave a small scream while jumping backwards to avoid getting hit by a piece of glass. "You first," he told her while pointing to the window.

"Okay," Valentine said weakly with a small nod. Abe helped her out of the window and slowly lowered her down by her hands. She then let go of his hands and fell to the ground with a short scream of fright. She had a wobbly landing, but was okay. "Abe!" she yelled while pointing behind him.

The boy ducked just as a robot behind him threw a punch. The kid swiped a foot under the robot and managed to trip it. He stood back up and gave a sharp yell while jumping up to the window sill to avoid getting hit by another robot. He was knocked off guard when the same robot suddenly lunged at him and forced both of them out of the window of the second story.

The impact was hard and painful on Abe's part because he was on the bottom of the tangle. The crash forced the boy and robot to separate and roll different ways. Abe slid to a final stop with a wince. His whole body ached as he forced himself to sit up. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and block out the pain pulsing throughout his body.

When he opened his eyes, Slade was right in front of him. "No," Abe said quietly in defeat. He looked to his side and saw two robots dragging the struggling Valentine back to the house. He looked back to Slade and gulped down some of his fright. "W…what are you going to do to me?" he asked him with his voice shaking a little.

Slade's eye narrowed in annoyance as he grabbed the front of Abe's shirt and pulled the boy to his feet. His voice was cold and sharp as he said, "You're just valuable enough to keep alive. But you're pushing the last of your luck with your actions. One more stunt like this and your value to me will go out the window. This is your last warning."

He then threw Abe into the arms of two other robots and ordered, "Put handcuffs on both of captives and gag them." He grabbed a fist full of Abe's hair and whispered harshly into his ear, "You're punishment is no food or water for the day. It would have been a waste anyways." He then let go and lead the way back to the house.

After a painful trip up the steps again, Abe was handcuffed and gagged before being thrown into the small, hot room again. Val was handcuffed and gagged as well. She watched silently as Abe leaned his back against a wall and slid down with his eyes squeezed shut as pain and despair racked his body. Valentine tried her hardest to not cry again, but after a few useless minutes of fighting the tears she let a few go.

Abe let out a few deep breaths while trying to keep his head above the ocean of defeat swarming around him. Things just looked dim for him. He didn't even know where his father was. Was he dead? Was that why Slade wanted him to stay on the roof this morning? At this, the boy finally broke down and sobbed quietly to himself. He didn't care that Val was watching him anymore. He just needed to get all his emotions out. For every sob it was his despair or feeling of defeat coming out of him. He pored it all out till there was nothing left.

A/N: Okay, that last paragraph even made me want to cry. I'm just happy that I finally pulled myself together and managed to make this chapter great. I had such a big problem of not knowing how to get this chapter into words. You see, I view my writing as like a movie in my head. I then put that movie into words. But for the past week I lost my touch and couldn't do it. But today I finally sat down and told myself to just go at it. Oh, and that crush Sam has on Robin is not going to go anywhere! I just wanted to put that in to be realistic. Don't think I'm trying to pull some stupid OCxRobin thing on you guys! Please don't think that! Other than that, I'm here to tell you guys to give a review! Thanks!


	21. Chapter 21 A Blood Freezing Battle

A/N: I guess I'm going to be wrapping this fic up pretty soon. I'm guessing just a few chapters, but I never know. Sometimes I draw it out because I don't like ending my work and the ending in my head is still a bit shaky. But here is your next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Refer to all my other chapters!

Chapter 21 A Blood Freezing Battle

"You guys don't understand!" Jake yelled at the Titans while being escorted up the stairs of the basement. He glared behind him at Cyborg with anger flaring up in his blue eyes. Cyborg pushed the teen up some more steps while completely ignoring his protests. "If Jessica sees me like this my sister is sure to be dead! Why can't we stay here?"

"Because we need to put you in a cell to make sure you don't escape," Raven snapped harshly at him with her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. She was walking next to him and staring straight ahead as they climbed the stairs.

"Escape from what, Rae?" Jake asked her with a smirk. "I would rather be on your side than on Slade's."

"Stop playing with our minds," Raven responded without even a glance to him.

Jake gave a long sigh while becoming serious once again. "I want to be on the good side but that side doesn't want me, while on the other hand, the evil side wants me but I don't want it," he murmured to himself. "Ironic BS, that's what I call it."

In around five minutes the team was in a room designed for if they needed to hold someone with any kinds of superpowers. Jake still had his hands handcuffed behind him as he was thrown into the small cell with a clear window as the door. He turned and watched the door shut with a small click. He stayed silent as the Titans argued over a few things about him. He couldn't hear anything in the cell, but he could still see them.

They finally proclaimed Raven as the person to watch over the teen and all left the small room with the cell. Raven watched them go with her eyes still narrowed. Jake knew she wasn't happy with her job. She had been the one who suffered the most from the switch. She had mixed Robin's vibes and feelings with his, who was an enemy. Now she had to redo everything in her head and untangle so many emotions. Jake knew her mind was a royal train wreck by now. He felt awful for doing all that to her. He had always felt that way.

"Hey, Raven?" he asked while seeing her pull up a chair from somewhere in the other room. She didn't seem to hear him as she sat in it and stared emotionlessly at him. He narrowed his eyes at her while saying bluntly, "I know you can hear me out there. You could at least give me some kind of feedback."

Raven then closed her eyes and hovered in her meditation position. Jake watched her lips move in her chant as she pretended to ignore him. "Dang it, Raven!" he yelled while pounding his fist on the bullet proof glass door. "You can be such a stubborn fool! I can help your team, but you have to go spoil it. Don't you want Robin back!"

Jake saw her lips stop moving as she listened to his words and let them sink into her head. She then started to chant again with her hands shaking ever so slightly. Jake gave a sigh while observing her. He had done this to the poor girl. He wished he could make it up to her, but what could he do? He finally realized that if he ever wanted to mend anything between them he would have to die to self.

"I know you can hear me, Raven," he said quietly. "So I'll just talk. I swear that everything about to come out of my mouth is pure truth, so please hear me out." He sat down on the cold floor next to the door and looked at his shoes while beginning to talk.

"As you know by now, I'm Red X," he said. "I became the thief to provide for my little sister and myself. I know that I could have been productive in other areas, but the life under the mask was addictive, so I kept stealing. I guess that side of me is what caught Slade's attention lately. Well, he picked me and only me to switch places with your leader, Robin. I said no at first. I don't work for psychopaths, I only lookout for myself and my sister. But this time that choice was not looking after her, and Slade has her now. I haven't seen her since that mad man and I made that deal."

The teen took a deep breath as he remembered his sister. He didn't look to see if Raven was listening or not. For some reason it just felt so good to get this all out. It had been kept up tightly inside of him for weeks now. It had been so hard to keep it in there, but now it was even harder to stop it from spilling off his tongue. The words just kept coming out.

"Well, the blackmail has been working," he went on. "I've been torn apart inside. I want to keep my sister alive, but if that killed this team, I would never forgive myself. But Val is the happiness in my life! She is counting on me to be the big brother and father to pull through and keep her living. I couldn't just abandon her to save a superhero team who hates my guts and didn't know that I wasn't their true leader.

"Then Beast Boy found out who I was, by mistake, I think. He knows a little bit of Slade's overall plan, but for the past week we kind of teamed up and he told me he wouldn't tell you guys. He wanted me to tell the team on my own." He paused. Telling Raven this part would kill Valentine.

It was like that question everyone likes to ask people. If a family member was about to die in one room but then twenty other unknown people were about to die in another and you could only save one room, which room would you choose? Of course most people would right away say they would pick the one with the more people in it. But you had to be in that position to fully know which one it would be. It was a lot tougher choice than what it was made out to be. Right now he was picking the room with twenty people, but it would be difficult.

Jake looked up when he saw the feet of Raven by the door. She kneeled down on the other side and locked her deep, violet eyes with his perfect blue ones. Her stare never wavered. This eye contact told Jake all that he needed. It told him that she believed him and understood what he was going through. But she wasn't pushing him at all. The choice of telling her what was going on was still up to him.

Raven had linked herself to him and could feel all his suffering. She knew everything he was telling her was the truth. She kind of felt sorry for yelling at him a few minutes ago. She finally placed her fingertips on the glass as if to tell him it was okay.

Jake leaned his head against the glass as he prepared himself to tell her Slade's plan. Why it was so hard, he couldn't exactly pin point. He gave a long sigh and finally said, "Slade's has this whole city wired. He plans on blowing the whole place up. I had been stealing the finishing touches for him with someone named Jessica who is as insane as him…"

"Talking about me, Jakey?"

Both Raven and Jake gasped while looking to the doorway to the room. And there Jessica stood, with her hands on her hips and that sticky smile planted on her lips. She brushed a long lock of her blond hair behind her shoulder as she sized Raven up.

Jake swore under his breath when seeing her. Raven stood up and went into a fighting position. Jake knew that she wasn't in a very good condition to fight Jessica. The Goth girl hadn't meditated in forever and had just had a mental connection with him. Her mind was tiered and needed rest. This fight wouldn't last long.

"I wonder how Slade will react when I tell him that you've spilled the beans about his plan," Jessica said evilly. Raven glanced down to Jake with some fright in her eyes. She knew what would happen now. But Jake didn't show any fear as he only glared at the insane girl. "Maybe you can say goodbye to her on the phone," Jessica pushed on with her smile never leaving her face. She truly did love to see others suffer.

Raven then attacked. The chair she had pulled over suddenly turned black and flew at Jessica at tremendous speed. Jessica duck rolled into the room then stuck her hand out at the dark girl. Raven closed her eyes with a grunt of pain. Jessica did the same while pushing her palm out at the other girl. Jake watched in semi interest as both girls battled it out before him in their heads.

It then hit him. Jessica's powers were somehow linked to that person's brain that she was moving. If that person had a strong mind, they could fight back her powers somehow. That was why Slade was fine with her around. His mind was so advanced, she wouldn't be able to move him if she tried. It was so simple now!

Suddenly both girls seemed to be knocked over by an invisible force. Raven gave a small yell of pain as her back slammed into the glass door to Jake's cell. She fell to her hands and knees while taking deep breaths. Her strength was depleted and she wouldn't last very much longer. Jessica shook her dizzy head while trying to understand what had just happened. No one had been able to fight back that much with her till just then. It was a weird experience.

Jake felt hopeless as he watched the battle unfold in the room just outside of his. After a few minutes of the two girls battling it out with their minds, it was clear Raven was getting weaker. All Jake could do was sit there and watch as the Goth girl slowly gave way to the blonde.

Finally Jessica was able to control Raven as she threw her into a wall a couple times relentlessly. Jake guessed that she had battled the other Titans and had won, because no one was coming to rescue their fallen teammate. Jake bit his lower lip while seeing Raven pass out on the floor. Jessica then moved Raven's beaten body to the control board to the cell and used her hand print to open the glass door.

Jake backed up while staring up at Jessica with pretend fear on his face. "I can't wait to see you're face when that brat sister of yours gets killed off," she said wickedly. She motioned for him to follow her, and Jake's stomach lurched as he let her take over his body willingly. He hovered into the air beside her as she started to walk out of the room.

"What…what are you doing?" he asked her while mentally resisting her a little. "Let me go, Jessica!"

"As you wish," Jessica said casually. She simply waved her hand at him and the hold fell away from the boy's body. The teen didn't really expect her to let him go so quickly. A small yell escaped him as he landed on his butt. He gave a small wince while looking up in time to see the fist aimed for his head. The one punch sent the boy into a world of darkness.

-Hour Later-

"Ugh, I'm getting sick of being knocked out today," Jake muttered while waking up from the darkness around him. "That was the second time today in only a few hours. Jeez! I think I'm losing it."

"You lost it a long time ago," Jessica said smugly to him from his side. "Nice to see you awake, Jakey."

"Since when were you polite, Jess?" Jake asked her with a wry smile coming to his lips. He opened his eyes and shielded them from the bright, afternoon light shinning through his living room window. He was laying on the couch in his apartment with computer equipment and other junk littering the floor that both Jessica and he had stolen the night before.

"Get over yourself," Jessica said with a frown on her lips now. "We're calling Slade. I wanted you to be awake to hear what he would say. See, I'm not so evil after all." Jake didn't answer her as he watched the blonde walk over to the kitchen counter where her communicator was located. It took the teen a second to realize that he could do something here. Jessica was such an idiot.

"Over my dead body!" Jake yelled while quickly taking out one of Robin's bird-a-rangs and throwing it skillfully at the communicator in the girl's hand. His aim was dead on. The gadget ran right through both the communicator and Jessica's palm.

Jessica gave a short gasp while seeing the weapon lodged into her hand. She fought the urge to scream in pain. Instead, she growled in anger at Jake's bold action. Her eyes lit up an icy blue and her hair hovered around her head as if she was submerged in water. She looked over to where Jake used to be and found an empty couch.

"You're dead, Jake!" she yelled in rage. She gave a cry of pain while grabbing the colorful bird-a-rang and pulling it out of her hand. Blood ran down her arm and dripped onto the tiled floor of the kitchen. She yanked a cabinet open and pulled out an old towel to wrap around her hand to stop the bleeding.

"No one's telling Slade what happened back there," Jake said from above her. Jessica looked up with shock to see him on top of the wooden shelves with a sly smile on his lips. "What he doesn't know won't kill him." He then sprung off the shelf with his back feet toward Jessica.

"You stupid boy," she chuckled while sticking her palm up at him. "I can control whatever I want to!" At first her powers worked and she forced him into the wooden cabinets forcefully. But for some reason her hold on him seemed to lose focus and her powers faded away. She was too shocked to react as she saw him come back down upon her.

"Guess again!" he yelled while landing on her shoulders and forcing her onto the kitchen floor face first. "I fully understand your powers, Jessica. It's going to take more than those weak holds to bring me down."

Jessica yelled in frustration while using her full power to pull the teen off of her. She flung his body onto the couch and got off the floor while breathing hard. Jake rolled off the couch with a small moan of pain. The two recouped on their hands and knees. They made eye contact while panting and smiled wickedly at each other.

It would be a fight to the death now, and both knew it clearly. What made them smile was that they wanted to get rid of each other for a long time now. This would be their final battle. The stakes were high and the price was big. But the odds had been leveled out. Both had a fair chance of winning.

Jake waited for Jessica to make the first move. It didn't take long for the girl to get up and run towards him with both palms pointing out at him. Jake relied on Robin's utility belt to fight back quickly. He pulled out the grappling hook and shot it at the wall across from him as Jessica's powers pushed him out the living room window. Glass flew into the air in little clear slivers that could only be seen if the light bounced off of them in right way.

The grappling hook flew right past Jessica's head. She gave a small scream of surprise while ducking. By doing so, she lost her power on Jake as he flew airborne outside the apartment. He pressed a button on the gadget and was quickly coming back toward the broken window. The wind rushed over his face as he positioned himself so his feet were coming in first. Right when Jessica stood up and looked back toward the window, she was greeted with Jake's feet slamming into her head.

Jake let go of his gadget and rolled to his feet on his kitchen floor. Jessica gave a loud moan of pain while slowly getting to her two shaky feet. She held onto her head while glaring daggers at Jake who was still smiling slyly at her. Jake put Robin's gadget back in his belt and motioned for Jessica to make the first move once again. She didn't hesitate on doing so.

Jessica shot out her palm with a battle cry. Jake closed his eyes and mentally blocked her move before jumping up onto a counter then flipping off it toward the girl as quickly as he could. Jessica was taken aback by him being able to avoid her powers so smoothly like that, but that didn't stop her from keep using them. She deftly dropped to the floor and rolled onto her back as Jake flew over her. She then put her hand up at him as he was right over her.

A cry of pain was released from Jake as his back was smashed against the ceiling by Jessica's quick move. Now it was Jessica's turn to smile up at him as he returned it with a death glare. The teen took out a bird-a-rang and threw it down at her to break her concentration. She had to roll out of the way and let him go to avoid getting cut by the gadget. Jake landed on the ground in a crouch and decided to make the next move.

He came in with a strong punch. Jessica backed up with her eyes going wide. Jake tried to punch her again, but at the last moment his arm stopped in midair. Jake didn't seem to notice the inconvenience as he brought his left leg up and delivered a sharp kick at the girl's midsection. Her powers let him go as she backed up and held onto her stomach because all the air was knocked out of her.

"That's it!" she screamed as her anger got the better of her. Jake backed up while seeing her take off her gloves. Things just got interesting. She wasn't playing around with him anymore and Jake knew he had to step it up a notch if he wanted to get out of there alive. It was then when he remembered something.

"Come on, Jess," the boy taunted her slyly. He backed up as she slowly moved toward him with her hands up. "Is that the best you can do? I don't even have powers and I've been kicking your ass so far. Bring it on!" He smiled as she took the bait yet again. She was too predictable.

"Shut up!" Jessica yelled as she ran towards him and throwing caution into the wind. Jake nimbly side stepped her and delivered a hard kick to her back that sent her into the couch with a yell of agony. Jake then took off into his room before the girl could get her head on straight. He skidded to a stop on his knees next to his bedside table. He yanked the drawer open and grabbed the cold pistol at the very back of it. He checked the bullets with his hands shaking slightly. He had never killed someone with one of these. Jessica would actually be his first kill on purpose. It scared him somewhat.

Jessica ran into the room with a frown planted on her face. Her powers were now on hyper drive now, so without even using them her eyes were their icy blue and her hair was floating around her head lazily. But no one was in there. A look of confusion swept across her face while looking around the room. She saw the move in the corner of her eye behind the bed and was able to duck before he fired at her.

The bullet shot into the wall where Jessica's head used to be before she saw him and moved. She heard him swear loudly as she uncovered her head from where she was crouched on the floor. Her look of fright left her as she stood up quickly and put both hands up toward him. Before he could block her hold, she had him knocked onto the wall a few times. She smiled evilly while throwing his body onto the floor behind the bed.

The teen cringed through his pain while snapping back into action quickly. He put both of his feet on his bed and pushed off the wall with his back. His mattress flew through the air and into Jessica on the other side. The girl tried to jump over it and managed to get tripped in mid jump. She rolled to a stop at Jake's feet.

A battle yell escaped her mouth as she lunged for his head which was the only part on is body that was uncovered. Jake's eyes went wide in panic as he kept her body away from his with his feet. His back was leaning against the wall and she was lying on the floor before him. She froze both of his feet and lunged one more time. Jake caught both her hands with a grunt. He closed his eyes and mentally had to unfreeze his legs. Once they were free he shoved one of them into her face cruelly.

Jessica got to her knees while nursing her bloody nose with a wince. Jake aimed his pistol at her to end it quickly but she was still swift as ever. She rolled to the side and the bullet tore into the mattress leaning against the opposite wall. Jake forced himself to his feet and headed to the door. He knew this wasn't the greatest room to fight in. The living room was much better because it was more open.

Jake ran over to the couch and hid behind it while gasping for breath. He gave a small wince as his injuries and cuts were able to scratch the surface through the adrenaline pumping through his body. He spat out some blood from when he bit his tongue at one point when being thrown into a wall in his bedroom. The sick taste of copper stained his taste buds as he waited for Jessica to show herself. She was being a lot more cautious now, Jake noticed.

"Come out where ever you are, Jakey," Jessica taunted the boy slyly. "Some time you're going to run out of bullets. Where will you be then, Jacob? Hm?" She paused for effect before answering for him. "Dead, Jakey! Just like how your little sister will be. Dead."

It was Jake's time to act out of anger. He jumped out of his cover behind the couch and shot at her a few times. But she had been ready for him and dodged the bullets easily while pushing him into the wall with her powers. A devilish smile crossed her lips as she made Jake point the gun at his own head. A look of delight was in her eyes when seeing the panic on his face. She then made him pull the trigger.

_Click._

"Opps," he said with a chuckle. "I forgot to take it off safety guard. We don't want to get someone hurt, now do we, Jess?" He broke through her hold when seeing the confusion on her face. He landed on the ground with a smile and shot at her a few more times. All of them missed except for the last one. It went right through her arm. Blood splattered the wall as a scream of agony echoed out into the air. This pushed her over the edge. Her powers went out of control.

"I hate you!" she bellowed. She didn't have to even point at him to take control of his body. She brought him towards her and roundhouse kicked him in the chest. His pistol clattered to the ground around her feet as she pushed him up on the ceiling a few times with full force. She would then let him go and let him fall to the floor mercifulness. Every time he was able to get to his feet, she would once again throw him around the room while screaming in hatred and pain as blood ran down her arms and collected in a pool at her feet. All Jake could do was wince through the pain as a rib cracked and other collections of cuts and bruises formed.

Jessica finally moved him in front of her. She let him go and stood over his beaten body as he kneeled pitifully before her and completely at her mercy. He was gasping for breath and his whole body shook uncontrollably. He cringed a few times while waiting for her to kill him.

It was then that she was able to smile once again. She stood next to him and put her bare hand on his forehead. "You lose, Jakey," she said proudly. "Any last words before I finish you off?"

"Yes," he gasped with a wince. He could feel the control over his body, but she wasn't doing any damage to him just yet. He opened his eyes and looked into hers with pure hatred in them. "You're an idiot," he said quietly.

Before the girl could respond, Jake swung one of his hands up that had been placed behind him for the whole time. In that hand was the pistol he had dropped and then retrieved when she let him go for that one second by her feet where it had been lying. He smiled up at her while pulling the trigger with no regrets.

More blood was added to the stained wall as the shot rang out into the air. Jessica was dead before she even hit the floor. She laid there, motionless, as a puddle of blood was created under her lifeless body. She was finally gone. She would no longer bother anyone or kill innocent people. Jake felt so much relief. He was free from her once and for all.

"Jeez!" he whispered to himself as he swiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. "I guess I'm going to have to find a new place to stay once this is all over," he said while looking around his apartment. He then started to laugh for no reason at all. He didn't even know why he was laughing. He just felt so relieved to be done with Jessica and to be alive. He was one step closer to winning this battle. All the Titans and he needed was for Slade to get to Jump City. And Jake was smart enough to know the man would end up in the city sooner than later.

All he had to do was wait.

A/N: That fight scene took me a while to think up, but I think it came out pretty good. But I'm just happy that Jessica is dead! I hope you had the same feelings. Please give a review! Thanks!


	22. Chapter 22 The Good and the Bad

A/N: Sorry that this chapter came out later than what I wanted it to. I had all these projects due this week in school and I also had rugby practice that takes up a lot of my time. But here is the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Chapter 22 The Good and the Bad

A small, black figure poked his head up over the edge of a roof for a second, as if seeing if his next move would be safe or not. He was in the cover of night, so he didn't have much to worry about, but the city of Lima was most alive at such late hours. People could be anywhere in the dark alleys, so the figure had to be careful somehow.

The lithe figure suddenly jumped down to the cement ground and landed in a crouch. He then bolted out of the cover of the alley and sprinted across the street and hid behind a thick tree in the middle of a small park. He was close to his destination and was sure his adversary had cameras or spies around these parts.

Robin took out a baseball cap and his pair of flip flops from his back pocket. He slipped them both on before walking out into the open so he would be able to cross the park without looking getting spotted by a camera or someone. He tilted the cap down to keep his face in shadows. He casually walked across the grassy lawn and into another dark alley where he threw off the noisy shoes and annoying hat.

The teen knew he was being a bit extreme, but with Slade around, he knew he could never get too cocky. He skillfully jumped back up to the roof tops to see where he had to go next. He then took off as quickly as his bare feet would take him. He jumped and flipped to different roofs as if it was an every day thing for him.

Suddenly a memory flash blasted rudely into his head. Robin clumsily stumbled to a stop on a roof top with a wince of pain. He held onto his head with one hand as he gave a small grunt. Just as fast as it had arrived, the pain left his head in a flash. Robin gave a sigh before pulling himself back together and jumping smoothly to another roof as if nothing had happened.

The boy was still torn between two lives. The mind swipe had done a lot to his brain. He sometimes found himself thinking he was still Slade's apprentice. It bugged the teen that he was so mixed up. There were times when his true self was able to shine through, but most of the time he was just trying his hardest to become the person he used to be. It was taking a toll on his poor brain and it made him feel confused and defeated.

Robin finally made it to where he and Sam hade tracked the call. He noticed the neighborhood was old and run down, and so was the house behind the walls. From the roof top he was hiding on, he could see the yard and pathetic home that looked completely deserted. The only hint that someone was in there was that a car was parked right outside of the walls surrounding it.

A frown came to Robin's face as he studied the structure. It would be hard to get past those walls. Slade had picked a place with a large lawn so that if someone jumped into it, that person would have a difficult time getting back out as quickly as they had dropped in.

Robin dropped to the ground in an alley and slowly crept to the side of the brick building. He was about to run out and jump over the wall, but then somebody suddenly grabbed the teen from behind. A hand covered his mouth and the other hand drug the boy backwards.

"What are you, an idiot?" the ambusher hissed into Robin's ear.

Robin's only response was elbowing the person in the stomach. The guy let him go with a small gasp for air. Robin spun around on his heel while bringing one of his legs up. He swung that leg down sharply and barely missed the mystery guy who had rolled to the side of him deftly.

The person flew out of the shadows and collided violently into the teen. Robin let out a small yell as his head hit the brick building. The man then pinned both Robin's hands to the wall and stuck his face into Robin's.

"Jeez!" James whispered harshly. "I'm on you're side, kid!"

It took a second for Robin's mind to register who this person was. A look of confusion swept across his face as he whispered, "James?"

"Do I always have to introduce myself to you this way so you won't kick my head off?" James asked him with a quiet chuckle. In the faint moon light Robin saw him wink at him. The teen couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Sorry about that," Robin apologized. "I thought you were someone working for Slade."

"No kidding," James muttered while letting the boy's shoulders go. He stole a peek around the corner of the building to look at the house Slade was hiding out in. Robin silently joined him while whispering, "So how did you get away from Slade?"

"It's a long story," James said behind his shoulder. "But I'll tell you it anyways." Robin rolled his eyes under his mask and smiled at the man's actions. He had missed the man's humor. James leaned against the brick wall and told his story in a whisper.

"When you didn't regain your memory on the plane and we had that game of phone tag, Slade caught onto me right away and knocked me out with some gas," James said. He noticed Robin hold onto his head and fight down a wince when he said gas. The man decided to let it pass and continued. "Next thing I knew it, I was captured by the madman and he figured out my plan by the few phone calls I was forced to make with my kids in Pucallpa. When he took me here, he forced me to tell him where you and Sam were by using Abe as blackmail. After that he thought I was no use to him and pushed me off a 20 story building we were on."

Robin nodded while taking the story in silently. "So how did you survive the fall?" he asked.

James gave him a wicked smile before saying, "You by now have to know that I'm a shape-shifter." Robin gave him a skeptical look but let the man keep going. "Well, when I was teen your age I didn't have many friends, so I would practice my powers till I would pretty much pass out. With that much practice, I unfolded all the secrets to my powers." Robin gave him a flabbergasted look that told him to get to the point. "I'm not limited to changing just into humans," James said.

Robin smiled and said, "I'm guessing that Slade didn't know that."

"Yeah," James said. "You should have seen the surprised look on his face when seeing me change into a bird and flying off into the city. He looked so mad. I didn't know that man had that much emotion in him."

Robin rubbed his forehead as more memory flashes continued to go through his mind. "You'd be surprised," he muttered to James.

The man watched the teen with concern and wonder on his face. He then smiled faintly and whispered, "We need to get back to Sam. Right now is not the right time to go spring some surprise attack on the madman. We need to get a solid plan together. How much time do we have? Slade stopped looking for you at the airport and didn't bother looking around the city today. You guys must have prolonged your safety."

"You were at the airport this morning?" Robin asked him, surprised.

"Yeah, but I didn't want you or Slade to see me," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "At first I didn't know who you were because of the new hairdo." He smiled when hearing Robin groan in the darkness. They started to jog the way Robin had taken on his way there. "You did an excellent job getting out of there without getting caught," he quickly added.

"Yeah, Sam and I called Abe and said that we didn't have enough money to get a flight and that we were going to take the bus," Robin said with a nod. "We figured that Abe was captured by Slade, so we knew he would be hearing the whole conversation. I'm sure he will be stopping every bus going to Lima now. Too bad he won't find what he will be looking for."

James couldn't help but laughing. "Clever!" he said. "Now that's the Robin I know! You just out witted the master with that one."

"But the question is; how long till Slade catches on?" Robin said. "I say we just bought your son and us at least a day. We need to get a plan together quickly."

"And we need to catch you up to date," James added swiftly.

"I already know what is going on," Robin told the man, perplexed.

"Those memory flashes have got to be getting you down," James said, skipping to a different subject. Robin opened his mouth to say something, but James didn't want the boy to answer. "Yes, I know their annoying, kid," he rambled on. "But I'm sorry to say that has to be the downside to mind swiping big chunks of someone's memory. But I know how to get all those loose ends to come back to you."

Robin frowned while hearing this. "Why do we need to get my full memory back?" he asked James with a hint of frustration in his voice. "We should really be planning something out. My memory can wait, James."

"I've already have thought everything out, kid," James said casually. "Why do you think I was there to stop you at just the right time back in that alley? I was waiting for you for hours! But to answer your first question, the person who don't get their memory back right away might not get it fully back if they delay it all. Some might even experience what the school called limbo, where the person gets confused as to what happened, or in your case, who you're really working for. Understand?"

The teen gave a sigh. "Sure," he answered with another nod. The memory flashes were painful and he always had to stop and put those missing pieces in their spots, which took up to a few minutes sometimes.

"Don't be so enthusiastic about it, kid," James said with his trademark grin coming to his face. "I know they tend to hurt when coming back, but you defiantly need it. You've been a mess for days now. But with this you will be back to that normal Robin I had come to know."

"Yeah," Robin muttered. "We're going to need a lot of ice." James gave a sharp laugh and his bright attitude toward life and their situation let Robin relax a little and smile. They quickly made their ways back to where Sam was waiting for them.

Robin just watched with a warm smile on his face when seeing the father and daughter greet each other with laughs and giggles of joy. Suddenly the boy was bombarded with memory flashes of his real father. This triggered the memories of his mother and the circus. The flashes stopped with the death of his parents. By then his head was pounding and aching profusely. His emotions and feelings from his parents' death were refreshed inside of him and he almost wanted to cry. He bit his lower lip and looked to the floor to try and steady himself.

A few minutes later, James sat next to him with concern all over his face. He put an arm around the distressed teen and asked him softly, "Hey, kid, you okay? You don't look all too hot."

Robin nodded his head with a sigh. "I just had a strong memory come back to me," he answered with his voice coming to the brink of cracking. James didn't say anything else and only sat there with him to comfort the teen with a father's understanding in his actions now. Robin was thankful somewhat to have the man there with him as he tried to decipher through his new set of memories and feelings. This was his first memory flash that came with thoughts over the matter and a swell of emotions. It was hard for him to clean through them, but once he did, he smiled to himself.

He remembered what he was fighting for. Before these memories, he had nothing to go on. He knew he was a superhero and was going by the rules, but he didn't know why he was doing everything. But the death of his parents had opened his eyes to different thoughts and those had told him why he was a superhero. His passion was found and his head was back in the game. He suddenly wanted all his memory back as quickly as possible. He didn't care about the pain anymore.

The day went by as a blur to the teen. They were all tiered from hours of being severely sleep deprived, but they pushed through the day by taking quick naps here and there on the roof top that had became their makeshift home. James had told them his plan and as they perfected it, they would say random words or phrases to Robin to try and trigger memories buried in his mind. Most times he would just smile and shake his head no, but they would hit their target sometimes and it would be their turn to smile at him as he would sit down to concentrate on the new information painfully given to him.

By the end of the day, the three were ready to put their plan into action. They had decided that Sam would be the one who stayed behind and back them up if something went wrong. She would be their last hope if that happened; she just hoped it wouldn't come to her. The two guys were the ones who would have to do the hard work. They were the ones who would have to sneak into the lion's den.

The sun was setting when the two left Sam and headed over to Slade's hideout. The city was covered in a red and yellowish glow from the sunset on the horizon. The wonderful display of colors were never even glanced at by the two guys slinking in and out of alleyways till they got to their destination.

"You first, kid," James whispered to Robin. "Make it last." Robin responded with only a sharp nod before climbing up a drain pipe to the roof of a building next to the wall of Slade's hideout. His face was serious and focused only on his mission. No more mixed emotions and thoughts tortured him. His mind and body was calm for once.

Robin jumped down to the wall surrounding the hideout. His bare feet avoided the iron spikes on the wall. He looked ahead and saw the window of the bedroom before him. He let out a pent up breath before skillfully jumping to the windowsill. He grabbed onto the sill with both hands and let out a soft grunt while pulling his body up.

The windows were not like windows in America. They were shut or locked in a way that someone from the outside could easily open them if they had the right tool. Robin had just the thing. He slipped the phone card into the tiny slot and flipped it up as he balanced dangerously on the small ledge. He pulled the window open and slipped silently into the room.

The room he was now in was a bedroom with only an old queen sized bed in it. Dust covered the walls and floor of the room. Robin made his way to the door and opened it tensely. When seeing no one was there, he snuck down the hallway to the room he guessed held maybe the two kids, Abe and the girl. He stopped at the unguarded door while trying to use his card once again.

He stopped when seeing a shadow cover up his own on the door. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up for a second as both shadows on the door stood there motionlessly. Then in a quick flash, both figures moved like lightning. Slade lunged toward the boy as Robin spun around quickly to block an attack that was sure to be made. Slade still proved to be the quicker of the two as he managed to pin both of Robin's arms to the wall.

"That lie you told was very convincing, Robin," Slade said into the teen's face. A trace of amusement was in his voice as he said, "You're becoming more like me every day."

"It wasn't a lie," Robin came back with another lie. "Sam went on the bus. We split up and I took a plane. I like it how you couldn't find me in the airport even though you had all of your robots with you."

"Another lie," Slade said with an evil smile coming to his lips under his mask. "You're just chuck full of them nowadays. What will be your next one?" The man then lifted his eye to the teen's yellow and black hair and said emotionlessly, "And I disapprove about the new hair color."

"Who asked you, Slade?" Robin said with a small grunt of frustration. He tried to break free from the man, but Slade was just too strong. The teen then brought up both his legs and kicked Slade right in the chest. The man let him go right away and backed up a little as if he wanted a battle between them to unfold.

Robin landed on his feet and didn't even waste a second. He ducked under Slade's legs with a daring smile on his lips and jumped over the wooden banister to the stairs. He landed in the middle of the staircase and bounded down the last few steps with Slade right behind him. With a quick sweep of the teen's eyes, he saw the living room as he ran past it. He stopped at the messy kitchen and quickly turned into the room.

Slade had set up a little camera room in the musty kitchen. Two old TVs were sitting on the pop up table with keyboards and other computer type stuff surrounding the screens showing black and white footage of rooms in the house and places around the wall. He had defiantly known when Robin had gotten into the house.

When Slade got to the kitchen, Robin was brandishing a rusty pan in both hands. Slade narrowed his eye at him as he flung it over his head and took a great big whack at one of the TV screens. The thing was crushed and destroyed on impact. Sparks and smoke filled the air as Robin raised the handle to the pan above his head once again. It was then that the teen noticed that the pan had fallen off its handle and his weapon was now useless.

Slade took the two second confusion to his advantage. He rounded the table and came straight for the boy with a powerful roundhouse kick. Robin ducked with his eyes going wide with surprise. He chucked the handle to the pan at Slade and the man easily dodged it before quickly executing another move. Robin deftly jumped backwards and a flash of panic crossed his face when ramming his back into a counter. He had lost all his room to move!

In an attempt to gain more breathing room, Robin jumped onto the counter and tried to jump over Slade. The man simply caught the boy's ankle and flung him down to the tiled floor. Robin landed on the ground face first with a yell of pain. He grumbled a curse under his breath while quickly trying his hardest to get up off the dirty floor.

"What were you thinking, coming back here, Robin?" Slade asked the boy as he pinned him there to the floor. Robin decided to not answer him as he fought for freedom. His eyes narrowed with hatred as he flung his legs up and skillfully wrapped both of them around Slade's neck. The mini acrobat then brought Slade's head to the ground with a loud battle yell.

Slade let out a small yell of half pain and half surprise. Robin grunted while getting out from under Slade. He spotted the table and grabbed a leg and yanked it as hard as he could before getting to his feet once again. Everything on the table came crashing down to the floor with sparks right between the adversaries.

Robin didn't wait for Slade to catch up. He darted for the front door and started to unlock all the locks on it with his hands slightly shaking from the nervousness. He was on the last one when his luck ran out. A hand shot out and grabbed his hand in a vice grip. He was forcefully yanked away from the door and got a knee jammed into his stomach. The air escaped his lungs as he was thrown into the hallway by the living room.

Slade stood over the boy as he gasped for air on his hands and knees. Robin suddenly sprung forward and wrapped his arms around the man's legs and pulled them together. Slade couldn't prevent going down as Robin managed to tackle the man to the ground. The teen quickly scrambled to his feet and made for the door. A loud yell of surprise escaped him as Slade grabbed his ankle and tripped him. He came to the ground once again with a thud.

Slade came at Robin with various attacks that the teen superhero managed to block or dodge. Once it seemed like Slade was done for a while, Robin came back at him as hard as he could. Once again, their skills were clearly shown when Slade caught Robin's fist after his second punch. He pulled him towards him then grabbed the boy's shoulders and rammed him against a wall. The teen winced when his head slammed into the wall and he saw stars.

"Now that you're here, Robin," Slade said to him as he stuck his face into his, "I can kill off Hess's little pesky kid." Robin glared daggers at him and didn't respond. Slade threw him into the hands of two Slade-bots. Robin grunted in anger while struggling in their grip. He was quickly handcuffed and dragged up the stairs and to the room Abe and Val were in.

Slade unlocked the door and flung it open. He stopped in stunned silence. The room was completely empty! He had been wondering why Robin had been destroying his security system. He had thought that it was nothing and that he was just trying to tick him off somehow, but now it was all too clear. It had been a distraction. But the guards had gone up to secure the door after him and Robin had gone downstairs to fight. The guards were still there like nothing had happened. How could anyone get pass them like that?

"Hess!" Slade growled in anger. He turned around and saw that Robin was smiling smugly at him.

"Surprise!" he said with a laugh. "Underestimating is something you might want to work on, Slade. Think of it this way, you have less prisoners to feed. Just because James still acts like a kid, it doesn't mean he thinks like one. I guess you figured that out when he turned into that bird on the roof a few nights ago."

Slade composed himself and placed his hands behind his back with a relaxed sigh. He had learned long ago how to take mockery. The boy was good at it and would have brought any other person into a rage and he probable would have been spending the night knocked out. But this was like water over a duck's back for Slade. He calmly stood over Robin while smiling down at him till the teen frowned.

"I do have to congratulate you for a clever job, Robin," Slade said smoothly. He lifted Robin's chin up with a hand so they could make eye contact. "But you forgot one thing, my little apprentice. I now have what I wanted this whole time. You."

"Well, Slade, I'm not your only enemy now," Robin said. "You now have a family of CIA members wanting to turn you in, a pissed off teen taking my place in Jump City who now has the freedom to come after you, and last but defiantly not least, four teenage superheroes ready to chew you up. The security on me has got to be stepped up a notch if you want to keep me as your prize."

"Two of those groups will be eliminated pretty soon," Slade said with a casual shrug. "We are leaving…now."

"Now?" Robin asked, surprise in his voice. "Where?"

"Come now, Robin," Slade said with fake sympathy in his voice. "If I told you where we were going, it wouldn't be a surprise. And I know how much you love surprises."

Robin struggled in the grip of the robots as he was dragged back downstairs. This wasn't part of the plan! They hadn't thought that Slade would move out so quickly. James wasn't going to try and track him till two hours later. This was bad! By the time they would try to track him, he would be half way to where their destination was. And if Robin was correct, it would be somewhere overseas. But what could he do?

A/N: We had some good things and bad things happen in this chapter. More detail of their plan will be explained in the next chapter. Thanks for reading! Please give a review!


	23. Chapter 23 Part Time Hero

A/N: Hi again! Yeah, I randomly went on a break from writing for a whole month and didn't tell anyone about it. I sometimes get those weeks where I can't form even a good sentence and all my writing his crap. So that is the reason I haven't updated this fic in a whole month. That, and the fact that I found a great new series in my school's library and couldn't put the books down. And I have rugby practice and had two games in one weekend. Once rugby is over I'm going to cry, but at least I'll have more time to write. But enough of my random ramblings. Here is your chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except for the few characters. Those are mine and you guys can't have them! Ha!

Chapter 23 Part Time Hero

Sleep didn't come too easily to the teen superhero sitting across from Slade. His hands were handcuffed in front of him as he sat in the jet's leather seat. Robin kept his eyes on Slade most of the plane ride there. Slade did the same. The small room of the jet was dead silent the whole way to the checkpoint.

The checkpoint was at some small runway in the middle of Florida. Robin stared out the small window of the jet and saw them pass a wooden building there. The early morning of around three or four was wet and misty. Robin could barely see the building through the thick fog. The only hint he had that something was there was the few lights that twinkled as the aircraft roared past it.

Once the jet came to a steady stop, Slade got up and snapped orders at the boy. "You do not talk," he told Robin sharply. "You keep that blanket on your handcuffs so the person doesn't know what is going on." Robin kept staring out the window with a faraway look on his face. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, Robin," Slade ordered. Robin frowned deeply while giving Slade a mean glare.

"I understand," Robin said venomously to the man. He then looked back to the window and ignored him once again. Slade decided the let the boy sulk and left him alone. He walked over to the door of the jet and pulled it open. A set of stairs rolled up to the door and a lady walked up them and into the aircraft.

The lady started to talk to Slade about the cost for fuel, passports, and other things. Robin didn't dare look their way. He knew that Slade would get the hint of his escape if he even so dared as glanced at the two. And Robin knew that Slade was watching his every move. The boy knew that everything depended on timing.

Robin wasn't really staring out the window of the jet. He was really watching the reflection that played out what Slade and the lady was doing behind him. He could clearly see the open door to the side of him. The cool, humid air was already in the room. Slade finally paid the lady and she was already half way down the stairs when the teen made his daring move.

Throwing the blanket off him, Robin made a mad dash for the open door. His move was so silent and quick, Slade barely had time to react to the bold stunt. One moment the kid was perfectly fine and still, the next he was diving out the door to the jet. But the man was right behind the teen after muttering a curse under his breath.

The stairs had been rolling away from the jet when Robin flung himself out of the door. He landed cumbersomely on the top step and winced as he tumbled down the rest of the stairs. The lady saw him coming down and ran down the rest of the way with a loud scream. She stopped at the end of the stairs and watched as the kid skidded to a stop on his side on the pavement. She watched with a shocked look on her face as the teen cringed through his pain and jumped to his feet.

"Phone!" he yelled sharply at her. He glanced back and saw through the fog Slade jumping out of the door and not even wasting his time on the stairs. The guy simply landed in a crouch on the ground while glaring dangerously at the kid.

It took the lady a second to respond. "You'll have to go to that building," she told him in a voice that sounded unbelieving of what was happening to her at the moment. She pointed to the wooden cabin a few yards away.

"Thanks! Quarter!" Robin said while holding out his handcuffed hands to her. She didn't do anything for another second. "Please!" Robin begged. "I _really_ need a quarter!"

Finally the woman snapped back into reality and pulled out some change from her pocket. Robin snatched the only quarter in her hand and then took off in a sprint toward the building without even a thanks. The fog seemed to engulf the teen as he ran as fast as he could toward the small lights. His bare feet flew over the concrete till he was finally at the building. His eyes lit up with hope when seeing the payphones there. He didn't have much time left.

The teen raced to a payphone and shoved his quarter into the slot while muttering a prayer under his breath. He let the phone hang on its cord while clumsily punching in the numbers to Sam's cell phone with his hands still cuffed together. He then picked up the phone and panicked when no one started to pick up and it just kept ringing.

"You got to be freaking kidding me!" Robin yelled into the receiver when he heard Sam's voice saying to leave a message. He had no time! "This is Robin, Sam! Slade left right when he figured out our plan. I'm in…" the boy paused to look for any sign saying where the heck he was. He spotted a map through a foggy window next to the booth and quickly said, "I'm in Florida! Just meet me in…"

Suddenly the whole phone booth blew up into his face from some gadget of Slade's. Robin gave a sharp yell of surprise while covering up his face with his arms. The force knocked him to his butt. He coughed as thick smoke filled his lungs. Once the boy was able to regain his senses, he tried to scramble to his feet. He didn't get very far, though, because Slade had other ideas.

A foot came out of the fog and nailed Robin in the chin. The teen winced while biting down on his tongue and drawing blood. He landed on his elbows and knees while spitting out blood onto the moist ground. The kid jumped to his feet and tried to run away again, but Slade was not going to be fooled by the same trick twice.

The man lunged forward and roughly tacked the boy to the ground. Robin landed on his shoulder and managed to rip some skin off it from the harsh landing. More blood was added to the ground from his new wound. Slade handled the poor boy like a drunk would to a bad puppy that had peed on the couch. He had a fist of Robin's raven-black hair in one hand and was getting out something from his belt with the other hand.

"No!" Robin protested loudly while struggling to get Slade off him. His only response was having his forehead roughly scratched against the cement ground till it drew blood. The boy still didn't stop, though. He struggled to get his bound hands and arms out from under him so he could get out of the hold Slade had on him.

"You've been one hell of a nuisance, Robin," Slade whispered harshly into the boy's ear. He yanked the kid's head up by his hair and smiled evilly when seeing him wince in pain. "Maybe some rest will do you some good," Slade told him while placing the syringe on Robin's neck. He smiled more when seeing how much the boy squirmed when realizing what he was doing.

"No!" Robin yelled loudly when feeling the needle pierce through his neck. He could feel the effects of the sedative take over his body right away. Very quickly he wasn't able to move him limbs and had trouble focusing. His vision started to darken till he finally gave way to whatever was now in his system.

Slade got off the boy once he blacked out. He quickly took off Robin's handcuffs and put them in one of his belt's pockets right as the lady and two police guards approached him from through the fog. He carefully picked Robin up like a father would and said smoothly to the police and lady, "My son has a few problems. That is why I only travel alone. Sorry if he scared you, miss."

It would have been easy for the man to kill the three, but Slade didn't want to attract too much attention. It was better for him to just to do it the slow and steady way. An hour later, both Slade and a waking Robin were back in the jet and heading to their final destination.

"Good morning, my little apprentice," Slade greeted the boy once he stirred in his seat across from him. "I can now safely tell you our destination." Robin only stared at him with a look of despair on his face while staying silent. "We're heading home," Slade said while leaning back in his seat in a relaxed manner. "So enjoy the ride."

"We're going back to Jump City?" Robin asked the man. He tried not to show the hope overflowing in him as he thought of his team. "Why?" he finally asked Slade.

"Well, to visit a few funerals," Slade said with wickedness in his voice. Robin glared at him once he added, "First you have to see them die, though. But don't worry, Robin. You friends' lives will not matter to you in a few years."

-James-

"Hold still, Abe!" James reprimanded his kid with a small chuckle. He tapped his boy's ankle lightly to get Abe's attention. The man knew it worked when Abe cried out in pain and tried to pull his leg away out of reflex. James held the kid's leg while frowning at his son.

"That hurt!" Abe wined. "I was just trying to get some food. Slade doesn't know how to feed his prisoners."

"You always complain about food," Sam muttered over to him while still throwing her brother a breakfast bar. James swiftly caught it before Abe could and put it down next to the medical box beside him. The man then went back to work with wrapping his son's broken ankle.

"If you hold still for a few more minutes, Abe, I'll give it to you," James said. "What did you do to this poor ankle anyways? You were sitting in a room for almost two whole days and you seemed to have made it worse than before!"

Abe winced before answering. "I'll just say that Slade isn't really gentle," he said.

Valentine, who was sitting off to the side this whole time, finally piped up with a sharp laugh. Everyone looked her way as she said with a sly smile, "Let's also say that Abe, here, doesn't like being cramped up and wasn't sitting still that whole time. I think jumping out a window was part of that not sitting still process."

James' eyes went wide as he looked back to his blushing son. Sam rolled her eyes because she could have predicted her brother doing just that. Abe quickly had to cover for himself. "I was trying to escape! It would have worked if I hadn't been _pushed_ out of the window by a robot. What did Slade program into those robots of his anyways? Be psycho freaks till I say not to?"

"You might not be too far from the truth," James said while smiling down at his son. He was so thankful that his family was safe and with him again. He almost lost one of them. The thought of it made James look down with a somber look on his usual happy-go-lucky face.

"Thinking about Robin?" Abe asked his father with his smile fading. He had seen James' sudden change in expression and wondered what would make his dad look that sad. "That teen has a knack for getting caught up in trouble. Yet he somehow gets out of it every time. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about the boy too much," James said with a faint smile. "Guilt is a different story, though. But it wasn't him I was just thinking about. Abe, I'm sorry for acting so selfishly up on that building a few nights ago. I…"

Abe cut him off while saying quietly, "You did the right thing." He then forced a smile before saying, "Plus, being alive is sure better than being dead." There was a long pause between the two as they both couldn't meet the other's eyes. Abe then narrowed his eyes because of the frustration with himself as he shook his head. "I was in my stupid, smart ass mode, dad," he finally told James with a bitter sigh. "I was being stubborn and foolish. It was a good thing that you were up there to keep my head level. Don't beat yourself up for it."

"There are ups and downs from having genius kids," James said with a genuine smile on his lips. "They can be so mature and still act their age while doing it. How old are you again?" As he said this, the father ruffled his boy's hair.

"Are you finished?" Abe asked while nodding his head to his ankle his dad was wrapping up, "Because I would really like that breakfast bar now!"

James rolled his eyes with a nod. He then gave his kid the food and smiled at him as Abe destroyed the wrapping with his teeth and downed the thing in only three bites. Abe then finished off his snack by licking his fingers for any traces of the substance that had managed to stick to them. James then focused his attention to Sam and asked, "We should start tracking poor captured Boy Wonder now, shouldn't we?"

Sam was sitting at her laptop and was typing profusely on the keyboard with puzzlement on her face. Val was sitting next to her and just shrugged her shoulders to James. The man and Abe shared a confused look before James helped his boy over to where Sam and her computer were on the roof they were still hiding out on.

"It's just that, dad," Sam finally spoke. Her eyes never left the laptop's screen as she continued. "I can't locate him. The tracker only works in a 50 mile radius." The girl gave a heavy sigh while taking off her glasses and rubbing her sore eyes. She then concluded desolately, "Robin isn't in Peru anymore." The three behind her all gave each other worried glances. They were pushed back to the defensive side again. The question now was; where was Slade heading?

-Raven-

Slowly Raven came out of her healing coma. As her eyes flickered open, her body floated down to the bed under her. Her body landed lightly on the white sheets in the Tower's infirmary. With a quiet gasp, the Goth girl fully awoke. She sat up in her hospital-like bed and looked around at all her friends in their own beds.

The girl quickly dropped to the cold metal floor of the room with her eyes wide in fright for her friends. Slowly, the girl came to each of her friend's bed side to see why they were in their unconscious state. They were pretty banged up, but after a few minutes of studying the three Titans, Raven concluded that they would be fine. She silently stitched up a few deep cuts here and there and used a small bowl of water and an old rag to clean others. It only took her a half an hour to fix her friends all up.

After Raven was done checking up on her friends, she realized that she hadn't been the one to put them in the Tower's infirmary. A look of confusion clouded her usual intelligent eyes. A thought came to her, and the only way to prove it was to leave the room. The Goth girl's blue cape flapped lazily behind her as Raven absentmindedly levitated in the air and flew out of the infirmary and to the living room. That was where she found him.

Raven silently landed at the doorway to the living room. She surveyed the young man raiding the Titans' fridge, and also noticed the giant computer screen telling her that it was finishing up a long search for information only the lonely young man would know at this moment. Raven decided to let Jake figure out she was there on his own as she smiled slightly in his direction.

"You would think that a superhero team with three male teens in it would have more food in their fridge," Jake was muttering to himself as he picked through all the food in the cool box. He finally gave up on food because his stomach was too twisted with apprehension now. The teen grabbed a Dr. Pepper and came back up from his long search.

"Holy crap!" the teen yelled in surprise as he spotted Raven standing by the door. It was just then that he had been popping open the can. Light brown fizz exploded from the can and splashed around the kitchen. A colorful string of words came from Jake as the fizz on the floor made him trip and land on his butt. When he looked up, he was staring into the deep violet eyes of his worried watcher. Jake smiled sheepishly up at her.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Raven said to him emotionlessly. She handed the boy a towel and they both started to clean up the sticky substance that had seemed to cover the whole mini kitchen in the big living room. Silence filled the room as they both wiped the floor and counters clean. The awkward stillness between the two continued even once they finished cleaning the floor and just stood there like fools.

"I…um…" Jake started hesitantly. Raven raised one of her eyebrows and waited for him to continue. Jake nervously scratched the back of his neck with his cheeks turning slightly pink from embarrassment. "I thought you guys needed some help, so I guess I came back."

"It looks like it," Raven said after a long pause. She looked the battered teen up and down before adding, "It doesn't look like you came in one piece, though."

Jake gave her a grim smile before explaining. "My state is what you get from a battle with a stupid, crazy person with body moving powers. I guess it would also be from my wonderful crappy luck that likes to switch sides randomly on me. I never got around to tending to myself, huh?"

"So where is Jessica now?" Raven asked him quietly.

"Dead," Jake answered with his voice emotionless. "I shot her." The teen took a long sip from his Dr. Pepper and sat down on the counter while muttering, "It was her stupidity that killed her, really." He looked up to Raven and frowned slightly when seeing her stare distastefully at him. "You can take me to jail for murder after we save this city, Raven," he told her. "It was actually for self defense, but who was there to witness everything?"

"Why are you here, Jake?" Raven snapped at him. "Don't give some dumb answer, either. I'm sick of it."

Jake scowled at her and took another sip from his soda. The boy then gave a long sigh before saying angrily to the girl across from him, "Jump City isn't just the Titan's. It's my city too! I was born and raised here. I have friends at Jump City High School that feel the same about this place." Jake took another sip while looking to the ceiling for the right words that were jumbled up in his head.

"Millions of people live in Jump City," Jake continued. "I'm just one of the many in the crowd. Most of the time, I don't give a crap for others and I really don't like playing hero. But it's like what I told your leader, Robin, that big fact doesn't mean I can't _play_ the hero. I might seem selfish and uncaring because I steal from the city I love and the people I love, but when it comes down to them getting blown up by a madman that wants to take over _my_ city, I have to put my foot down. I have to play hero once again because I just can't stand around and nothing! Understand now, Raven?"

Raven by then was sitting on the counter across from him with a glass of water in her hands. She stared intently into her glass as she pondered over what the teen had just said to her. She hated to admit that she fully agreed with the thief. If she had been in his shoes, she knew that she would come back to help the city. The Goth girl was just having trouble trusting the teen. He was still a thief in her eyes.

"Okay," Raven finally said. "You're on our side…for now. But my trust level is pretty low right now because of you, Jake. If you do anything that is too suspicious, you will be in jail in seconds."

Jake smiled slyly while saying, "But after we save this piece of crap city, I'm back to stealing from it and being my favorite identity yet, Red X. But for now I'll be a snot nosed superhero like you…even though I'm most liking creating a gravestone for myself this way." Jake finished his drink and put out his hand while asking, "Do we have a deal, Rae?"

Raven let herself express something like a wicked smile. Jake was like a wild card. He could randomly be the bad guy, good guy, or just be on his own side. He was so risky to have on their side now, but Raven somehow trusted him enough to let him. Maybe it was just how he talked, or it could be his very addictive smile that he was now giving her. Whatever it was, it made Raven make the deal with him.

"Deal," Raven said while shaking his hand. "You now have the title of superhero. It ends the second you do something wrong or when this city is saved." She smiled slightly before saying emotionlessly, "Congratulations."

"Well, thank you, Rae," Jake said with a laugh at her actions. Seeing her acting out of character was rare, but he would sometimes strive to catch that glimpse from the Goth girl. He opened his mouth to say something else, but suddenly the computer beeped to tell him that his search was complete. They both looked up toward the computer with surprise.

"Let's get to work," Jake said to Raven with a nod toward the computer. He did a back flip off the counter he was on and landed next to the couch. Raven flew after him with wonder in her eyes. She observed him silently as he typed in a few keys and filtered through a few things on the screen before them.

"What were you searching for?" Raven asked him finally. "And how did you know how to do one of these kinds of searches? Only a few places in Jump City have this kind of computer to do big searches."

Jake blushed a little with a timid smile coming to his lips before he explained. "Lots of police cars have computers with search stations like this one," Jake said as he turned his attention back to the screen. "I've kind of…um…used them to do some research about the place I'm about to steal from. I don't know why other thieves don't do the same. It's quite simple, really. The hardest part is distracting a police officer from his car and guessing a password. And of course there is that small time limit. A police officer will only leave his car for a short while. Timing is everything."

Raven at first rolled her eyes at the boy's stupid story. But at the end she couldn't believe how smart Jake was. He was truly one of the greatest thieves in Jump City and maybe even better. Raven found herself wishing that Jake would change his ways and actually turn good, but the teen had the thrill bug from being a thief for so many years. And even though he would make a perfect superhero, Raven knew all too well that Jake would hate being the good guy all the time. She would have to deal with him just being neutral in the eyes of the Titans.

"Well, I was searching for anything odd happening somewhere outside of the US," Jake said after a pause. "Slade took Robin to Italy for some unknown reason. But I don't think he meant to stay there too long. So that is why I widened my search. Sooner than latter, we'll get something."

"Stop!" Raven suddenly shouted as she pointed to one of the headlines of a newspaper article from Peru. Jake spotted what she wanted and clicked on it then told the computer to translate the Spanish into English for the both of them. They both smiled.

"Robot holds up small airport in Peru," Jake read the small article out loud. "It held a teenaged American boy at gunpoint and then was shot by another adult American. The two Americans then fled the airport. And the rest is crap. They even have a pretty picture."

The two studied the picture with Robin and a blonde haired adult getting onto a motorcycle next to the airport. Jake smiled and said, "Looks like he found a friend. Good for him."

"I'm just thankful he's still alive," Raven muttered. "But why did you want to know where Robin is when you know Slade wants to blow up the city? Shouldn't you be out there trying to take out the bombs?"

"Like I said before," Jake said with a nod, "Timing is everything. Since this article was written only around four days ago, then I'm guessing that Slade has already gotten his prize back, killed the poor friend, and is heading back to Jump City to finish us off. Give or take a day or two. But what I'm getting at is that we don't have much time left. We need a plan formed fast and we need more people to help us out, or this city is going up in flames in only a few hours."

"But these are only guesses, Jake," Raven sighed with frustration. "I say we just take out the bombs."

"It's not that simple," Jake told her. "One, I have no clue where these bombs are, and two, Slade isn't stupid enough to just plant some bomb where everyone can see them. Sorry, but those are the facts. We don't have much time or enough people. We need more than just the Titans to foil Slade's plan. Have any friends?"

"I could call for Titans East's help," Raven said with a shrug.

"Do that," Jake told her with a nod. "While you do so, I'm going to go someplace quiet and call Slade." Raven looked up from the computer with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to shout a protest, but Jake easily got there first and said, "I'll bring a tape recorder so I'll play the conversation back to you. But I need to see where everything is with Slade. I just hope that he didn't try to call Jessica. If he did, then Val might be gone by now."

A/N: I'll be wrapping up this fic pretty soon. I can't believe it went this far! I'm going to really miss it once I'm finished. And thanks for the many reviews so far! I'm still pondering the next chapter, so it might come out a little latter than usual. But please give a review! Thanks!


	24. Chapter 24 Glass Signal

A/N: I never thought I would make it this far with this fic! I'm so happy! I usually don't like ending fics either the way I planned them or I just quit. This one was a great idea and I'm in love with writing for it. But all good things must come to an end sometime. So I'm guessing around three to five more chapters for this fic after this one. But please R&R! Thanks!

Disclaimer: Me don't own! I ain't so well in English class. Just kidding! I'm getting an A.

Chapter 24 Glass Signal

Plan after plan swam around in Robin's brain as he sat there in his leather seat in the jet. His mind was quickly going over everything he could think of. He wished he had more time to think things over, but time wasn't on his side anymore. He had to make due with the three hours he had till they landed on Jump City soil.

The jet's cabin was completely quiet for the first hour from their checkpoint in Florida. The only sound was the loud hum and buzz from being at such a high altitude in the air. Slade didn't feel like telling his soon-to-be apprentice any of his plans, and Robin didn't feel like speaking to the madman as well. The two would only glance up at each other every so often.

Finally lunch came to the teen. Robin didn't feel like eating. He usually didn't eat on planes, but some food would give him some brain power at the moment. The teen stared at the plate full of delicious food and crystal glass of water as his mind mulled over what to do.

Slade wasn't hungry and looked up from his newspaper when he didn't hear Robin dig into his food. Robin finally gave a sigh of defeat as he reached for his fork. He gave a quiet grunt of frustration when he couldn't reach it with his right hand because it was handcuffed to his chair. He rolled his eyes under his mask while giving up on eating entirely. He glared daggers at Slade while grabbing his crystal glass and gulping down his water.

"Aren't you ambidextrous, Robin?" Slade asked the teen with a small, sardonic smile.

"Actually, Slade, I'm not hungry," Robin answered stiffly. He put the empty glass down and flicked it a few times to make a soft _ding_ sound echo around the cabin. "What ever happened to the simple peanuts?" he added with a dry chuckle. He glanced up when hearing Slade's communicator go off. Slade pulled the thing out of his belt while giving a warning glare to the teen before answering it.

"Jake," Slade said with a nod. "Why are you calling?"

Robin bit his lower lip when hearing that it was Jake on the other end. He knew that Jake had to be quick and smart because the teen was taking his place at the Tower. Slade would only pick the best to do that job. Robin's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to get some kind of message across to the other teen without Slade knowing. The boy had to try not to smile as a thought hit him.

"I'm getting antsy, Slade," Jake was saying. "The Titans are finally getting the message that maybe I'm not their leader. I can't be clone boy for forever, you know. And Jessica is a pain in the ass! I don't want her working by my side when I steal! She is too much of a handful and more of a nuisance than help." He paused before saying boldly, "I want to talk with Val."

_Ding, ding._ Slade looked up to Robin before telling Jake sternly, "No." _Ding, ding, ding…Ding, ding._ Slade glanced at Robin and gave him a glare to stop flicking the glass as he tried to reason with the teen taking Robin's place at the Tower. Robin ignored him as he kept flicking the glass in a pattern that repeated after every nine pauses.

"Why can't I?" Jake asked. Slade saw the teen's face pale as a thought came to him. "Don't…don't tell me you killed her!" he said in barely a whisper. "Please don't tell me that!"

"She's alive," Slade answered as he rolled his one eye, "For now. That can all change if you don't do exactly what I say." _Ding, ding, ding, ding…Ding, ding, ding._ Slade glared another time at Robin to shut him up, but the kid was ignoring him and staring boringly out the window. The man didn't think much of what Robin was doing and threw his actions away as just a simple nervous or bored habit of his.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Jake asked Slade, slightly confused. "The plan is actually working? Are we really going to blow it up?"

Slade wanted to bash Jake over the head with something hard when he said this. He noticed that Robin had stopped his flicking for a few seconds and was looking his way with wide eyes of horror. The captured teen finally put his head back together as he continued to flick his glass. It was then that Slade caught onto what Robin was doing. He was doing that action on purpose.

"The plan is going smoothly," Slade told Jake. "You and Jessica are planned to meet me at the warehouse where you and Robin were switched, tonight, at midnight. Bring the things on my list and I'll take it from there. Just think, Jake, you and your little sister will be free at exactly midnight. You're so close to getting what you want, don't mess it up now."

"You mean that you'll let us go at midnight?" Jake asked him hopefully. He gave a relieved sigh before saying, "That sounds really good. I'll tell Jessica where to meet and we'll see you then."

"Good boy," Slade said slickly with a wicked smile on his lips. The screen then went black as Jake hung up on the other end. It would be easy to finally kill the teen. He was too clouded with hope to realize that he was walking right into a trap.

"This is unbearable!" Robin yelled suddenly while brandishing the glass cup in his left hand. His fake anger outburst ended quite suddenly when Slade grabbed his wrist tightly before the boy could smash the crystal. Robin tried not to wince as he felt his wrist being crushed in the man's hand, but he was having a difficult time holding in his pain. The defenseless teen looked up to Slade's face that was only inches away from his own.

"You had me going for a while there, Robin," Slade said venomously into Robin's face. He squeezed the teen's wrist some more and watched as Robin grimaced in pain. "But that phone number didn't respond to you before, what makes you so sure it will answer for him even if he does get the message?" Robin didn't answer. He only frowned intensely up at his adversary. It was all he could do.

-Jake-

"Crap, crap, crap!" Jake muttered again as he replayed the conversation with Slade over and over again. At midnight both he and Valentine were going to get killed if he didn't come up with a plan. He knew Slade too well by now. He knew that the man wouldn't keep both of them around. The problem was that his head was getting overwhelmed and was shutting down. He couldn't think straight!

Jake rewound the recorder another time with a shiver going down his spine. Slade could be so creepy sometimes. Around halfway through the recording his mind finally caught onto something. His eyes flew open as he heard the pattern of _ding_s. He quickly rewinded the tape again with a smile flashing onto his lips. He scribbled down the numbers and right away saw that they were really a phone number. It was pretty far fetched, but it was worth a try.

When glancing up to a clock on the wall, Jake winced when seeing that he had been in the room thinking for over an hour now. Raven must have been worried sick. Quickly, the teen gathered the communicator, tape recorder, and piece of paper with the phone number on it together and headed for the sliding metal door with hope in his wide blue eyes this time.

As soon as the door swooshed open, hands grabbed onto Jake's shoulders and shoved him forcefully forward and into the hallway. Jake let out a yell of surprise as he lost his balance and whacked into Cyborg's huge chest. Everything in the teen's hands spilled to the floor with a crash as Jake tried to get away.

Cyborg was quick this time, though. Before Jake could run out of his reach, he grabbed the back of the small teen's shirt and reeled him in with an evil smile. Speedy, one of the newly arrived Titan East members, handed Cyborg some rope and watched with a satisfied smile as they tied up their poorly accused victim.

"Let me go!" Jake yelled while shooting Cyborg a disgusted look. He growled his frustration over the matter as his hands were tied behind him. Jake managed to wiggle out of Cyborg's strong grip and ran to the doorway that went into the living room. He didn't make it far because Cyborg was still holding onto the rope that bound the teen's hands together.

Suddenly Jake found himself having his feet slip out from under him and he landed painfully on his butt. He gave a small groan as his spine tingled in pain. His eyes went wide with surprise as he started to get dragged backwards by Cyborg. It was times like these when Jake wished he went and pumped iron at the gym more often. His strength compared to the half robots' was like comparing a bug's to a bear's. Very quickly Jake was back in Cyborg's strong hands. That fact didn't stop Jake from protesting physically and vocally.

"I'm on your side now!" Jake yelled at the Titans East and Cyborg. He noticed that Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven were no where to be seen at the moment. "Let me go!"

"Well, X, this is what you get for being Jump City's top thief," Cyborg said to the teen with a smug smile. "I think you might want to get used to being either tied up or handcuffed. Jail tends to keep you bound up like this."

"Where is Raven?" Jake yelled. "I want to see her! Didn't she tell you that deal we made?"

Cyborg ignored the question as he asked the Titans East, "So what do you make of him, guys?"

"Man, he sure does look like Robin," Speedy said while tapping his chin in thought.

"What am I?" Jake asked them with distaste, "A show dog?"

"Right now consider yourself just that," Cyborg said to him.

Jake growled in anger while glaring dangerously back at the Titan. He glanced down at Mas and Menos and barked down at them, "Take a picture! It will last longer!" The two Spanish speaking twins quickly backed away from the thief from the scare of his sudden anger outburst. They then started to rapidly converse to each other about the teen. The boy didn't seem to get any happier when he caught a few bad words shared between the twins. He hadn't taken three years of Spanish for nothing.

"Hey!" Cyborg shouted at Jake while turning the teen toward him to stare down at him, "The Titans East are our friends. Have some respect for once. 'Kay?" Jake for the first time held his usual colorful tongue and only glared back up at Cyborg.

"I don't know, Cyborg," Bumble Bee finally spoke up for the thief. "I mean, if the most opposite people on your team say he's actually an okay guy right now, I would think it would be true."

"Plus," Aqualad added with a shrug, "If he's smart enough to trick even Raven with her whole mind and vibe reading magic to believe he's Robin, he's smart enough to know Slade doesn't want him after this."

"What makes you think Slade wants to kill him?" Cyborg asked the Atlantian as he shoved Jake into the circle they had created in the hallway. "He might just be on Slade's side!" Jake rolled his eyes in aggravation as the group fought over what to do with him. He thought it truly unjust and wanted to go to court where true, sensible adults argued over his life. But then the teen decided there really was no difference and that this way was faster, so he accepted his tough situation.

"True," Bumble Bee said after a pause for thought. "But what Aqualad is trying to get at is the fact that Slade knew that for Red X to be a great Robin, he would really have to befriend all of you guys. And what good is he later on, when he tries to kill you? He's spent months with you guys and I'm sure he's bonded closely with at least one of you. He would hesitate if Slade told him to kill one of you, and Slade wouldn't want that."

"I like this girl," Jake said to Cyborg with a wry grin just like Robin's. "You should listen to her more often, you know? She knows the truth." Jake paused as he changed his mind. "Well, most of the truth," he said. "But she's making a whole lot of sense. Just add some blackmail and everything will be a-okay."

"You have no opinion in this, X," Cyborg snapped back. Jake frowned and tried again to slip out of the knots in the rope binding his arms behind him. Suddenly the door to the living room swooshed open and Raven stormed into the hallway with a black mass of anger burning around her body. The Titans East watched her with either winces or bitter smiles as she walked up to Cyborg. Beast Boy and Starfire hesitantly followed after the girl.

"What are you doing, Cyborg?" she asked him with as little emotion as she could muster. "I thought you said you were only going to wait at the door for the Titans East. I didn't want you to go ambush Jake."

"You're head isn't on straight, Rae," Cyborg said to the Goth girl. "This is the enemy and you know it. Something is just clouding your better judgment." Jake opened his mouth to shout a protest, but Raven got their first to defend the thief. Everyone else just watched in silence as the two Titan members argued.

"I'm completely fine!" Raven retorted. She gathered all of Jake's things he had dropped on the floor. She looked at the piece of paper with the cell phone number and shot Jake a questionable look. He wasn't looking at her at the moment, though. He was staring at Cyborg and looking extremely pissed off. He had a right to be. Raven was just grateful that he was holding in his anger. She didn't know how long till he would explode, though.

"Well, how long ago was it since you meditated?" Cyborg asked her. Everyone looked over to Raven, expecting a good answer to come from her. So far Cyborg was making more sense to the other members.

This seemed to fluster the Goth girl as she frowned up at her friend for a second or two as she tried to pick her next words wisely. She finally shook her head with frustration and said, "That doesn't matter right now!" She shoved the tape recorder into Cyborg's face and said, "The reason I'm angry right now is that you went against my orders and you're accusing Jake once again. He was only in the other room because he was checking on something."

"Really?" Cyborg asked her as he grabbed the recorder out of her hand. He pressed play before Jake could yell a protest. Slade and Jake's recorded voices filled the room as everyone froze to listen.

"_The plan is actually working? Are we really going to blow it up?"_

"_The plan is going smoothly. You and Jessica are planned to meet me at the warehouse where you and Robin were switched, tonight, at midnight. Bring the things on my list and I'll take it from there."_

Cyborg stopped the tape there. The half robot heaved a heavy sigh before saying grimly to Raven, "He was checking on something alright. He was checking up on Slade."

"You guys don't understand!" Jake yelled at all of them suddenly. "I called him to see if he hadn't found out about me. Everything you just heard was me being a fake! I don't want Slade to know that I have the Titans East here right now or that everyone knows that he's planning to blow this whole city up. You guys _need_ to believe me! This city is at stake."

"Yeah, well, you could still be lying to us," Speedy said while folding his arms in front of him. His masked eyes narrowed as he explained. "You could be trying to lure us away as Slade easily does something else to destroy the city or to take off with Robin." Mas and Menos nodded to back up their teammate.

"I say we throw him in jail and go out to find Robin," Cyborg said to Raven. "That would be the smart thing to do."

"Midnight, people!" Jake shouted at them. "Slade, Robin, and my little sister will be here at midnight! Slade said so himself on that tape. Replay it if you want to. I don't give a rip! The point I'm trying to make at, though, is that we don't have much time to put a plan together. Trust me for a few hours and you might just get a city to wake up to tomorrow morning."

"Yeah!" Beast Boy finally spoke up. "Jake and I have been planning this for a week now! Trust him, dudes! The guy is as smart as Robin about this. We have a plan!" The thief and green teen shared brief eye contact as Jake thanked Beast Boy with a faint smile.

"At least call this number I found when last calling Slade," Jake said while pointing to the paper with the cell phone number in Raven's hands. Everyone gave the thief an odd look, but he quickly started to explain. "Someone was tapping something in the background the whole time Slade and I talked. It kept repeating the same pattern of numbers. When I replayed the tape I realized they were a phone number. It seems like a good start for anything."

There was silence in the hallway for a few seconds as they all looked at each other with confused or frustrated looks on their faces. Finally Cyborg muttered, "This is crazy." Jake couldn't help but nod his head in agreement. He had to admit that he was being a bit on the brash and crazy side.

"I would like to try it," Starfire spoke up quietly. Everyone looked to her with surprise. She blushed slightly under the pressure of all their stares, but she quickly recouped and said in her innocent voice, "You are very unwise to deceive my friends." She stared at Jake this whole time. "But you helped save our city once and I think you could do it again." She then looked to the others and said in a louder voice, "I wish to call the number he found."

"Majority rules," Cyborg said after a slight pause. "We call the number." All the Titan East members simply nodded as they kept their opinions to themselves. Beast Boy and Starfire shared smiles while Jake and Raven exchanged worried glances. Both had the same question going through their heads. What if the number was just a dead end?

The group all walked into the living room in a hurry. Cyborg kept a close eye on Jake as he had an arm on the boy's shoulder the whole time they dialed up the number. Jake's arms were still tied behind him, but he didn't notice the rope cutting into his skin when the group listened to the phone ring. Sweat ran down his forehead and stung his blue eyes that were glued to the screen above him. Cyborg tightened his grip on the teen's shoulder when they heard the other side finally pick up on the fifth ring.

"Robin?" a girl's voice asked them suddenly. Her voice was filled with concern and worry. It took everyone off guard because they weren't expecting anyone to actually pick up. The few Titan East members sitting on the couch quickly flew to their feet with wide eyes of surprise.

"This is Raven from the Teen Titans," Raven spoke for the group because Cyborg wasn't quick enough because of his shock.

"The Titans?" Sam asked with astonishment in her voice this time. "Where the heck is Robin? How did he give you this number?"

"We will answer your questions once you answer ours," Raven said as nonchalantly as she most possibly could. She was having trouble keeping the hopeful excitement out of her usual monotone voice.

"What do you mean by 'we' and 'our'?" Abe's voice suddenly came to the group. "Who is with you, Raven?" The kid was smart enough to catch the smallest words sometimes.

"The rest of her team, the Titans East, and a captured fake Robin," Cyborg answered for Raven this time.

"You mean Jake is there with you?" Abe asked with anticipation. They heard him call to someone in the background. Then Valentine's voice filled the room as she yelled, "Let me speak to him!"

Jake was speechless as he stared up at the screen. His thought he felt his heart skip a beat. He hadn't heard that very voice in weeks. It was the spotlight in every dream lately. The person wanting to talk to him was his passion in life that he had to give up just a few hours ago. He didn't think that he would ever have that voice fill his ears ever again. Tears threatened to escape his eyes as he knew she was okay and still living. Joy overcame him.

"Val? Is that you?" he asked with his voice unsteady. Tears started to roll down his face and he sniffed a little to try to keep himself from sounding like an idiot to his little sister. He smiled faintly at the thought.

"Jakey!" Val yelled into the phone happily. Jake gave a small sob as glorious relief in ages washed over him. "Are you crying, freak?" Valentine asked him with a giggle.

Jake laughed out loud while trying desperately to dry up his tears. "No, of course not!" he answered. "Why would I cry? How have you been, dork?"

"Thanks to the Hess family, I'm not with Slade anymore," she said. "But Robin still is. The problem right now with us is that we don't know where Slade is taking Robin."

Jake nodded as his emotions were sorted out inside of him. "Good, great news," he muttered. "I know exactly were the madman is heading. Look, Val, I have a plan to save this city from Slade and help Robin get back to his team…"

"No!" Val yelled back angrily. "You promised, Jake! You said we would survive and we would move into a big house because of the money Slade said he would give you for your job! Why are throwing it all away to try to save the stupid city only to get yourself killed?" Now she was crying. "It's not fair, Jake!"

"I know, Val," Jake said quietly.

"Don't be an idiot, Jake!" Val screamed at him. "You don't have to do anything! Please, don't. I already lost my parents. You're my only parent and brother now. If you die I'll have none left."

Everyone watched Jake as his insides were torn apart. Starfire had tears in her eyes because she had just seen the teen go from so much happiness to sink to an all time low. Raven felt Jake's feelings and she desperately wanted to help him, but this issue was all up to him.

"I'm not going on a suicide mission, Val," Jake said sternly to her. "I'm the only one in this city who knows what's going on and knows exactly what to do about it. I'm not going to simply back out now and say I quit because I don't want to get killed or hurt. I have one more thing to do before we can go back to normal, but I can't promise our lives will be the same after this.

"Now, I need you either sit tight with the family your with till this is over, or you can join this plan of mine and we can work it out together. But I don't need you to be worrying about my worthless life as a whole city's worth is in danger. What's it going to be, Val?"

There was a pause on the other end. If anyone doubted Jake before, now they fully believed he was on their side. Some in the group let out small smiles at Jake's selfless actions. Raven thought that maybe they were getting to the teen somehow, and she couldn't help but smile along with the others.

"You're sounding more like a dad than a brother," Valentine finally said with a sigh.

"That's the point," Jake said with a wide smile coming to his lips. "That voice is the only one that sounds the closest to dad's. It's the only voice you actually listen to. Now give the phone to someone you're with, okay?"

"Don't you want my answer first?" Val asked.

"Shoot, kid."

"I'm with you all the way, freak, but I expect you to have a really good plan. I don't want crap from you. You hear me, Jakey?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

A/N: This looks like a good place to stop off before I get carried away with myself. I'm getting a bit excited for my ending! I hope you liked this chapter and please give a review! Thanks!


	25. Chapter 25 Growing Up

A/N: Sorry for delay in update. I first went on a media fast, so no computer. And then I couldn't log in on this site and had to get them to fix it for me, which took three days. I then decided to put this chapter up on my birthday, so here it is. So please give me a birthday present by giving a review! Thanks!

Disclaimer: This will never get old, will it? I don't own any of the Teen Titan characters!

Chapter 25 Growing Up

"What time is it?" Jake asked Raven in a rush. He paced the library in the Tower with Raven sitting on a black leather seat facing him. The teen was a nervous wreck and close to a total break down at this point. His wondrous blue eyes darted around the room of shelves as his mind replayed his plan over and over again. Doubts were starting to pressure his mind because it was close to crunch time.

"Ten-thirty," Raven answered him after a sigh. She had dragged the teen into the library so they could take their minds off the mission for an hour or so. They were waiting for Bumble Bee and Speedy to come back to the Tower with the Hess family and Valentine. But Jake's mind was not calming down any time soon and his restlessness was messing with her powers and emotions.

"Okay, I leave in a half an hour," Jake nervously told himself. He glanced over to Raven and noticed that she was simply reading a thick book without any expression in her face or in those deep violet eyes. Jake stopped his pacing in front of her and wondered how she could be so relaxed at a time like this. The teen stared at Raven for a minute or two. Didn't she realize that her city could wind up destroyed if they didn't defeat Slade tonight?

"What are you looking at?" Raven asked him darkly. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him when he kept staring dumbly back at her. Jake then came out of his trance while shaking his head. He blushed slightly when she kept glaring at him.

"Sorry, I just spaced out for a sec," Jake muttered. He scratched the back of his neck before asking hesitantly, "How do you stay so calm? I'm a freaking nervous wreck! I've never been this way before and…ah crap! My hand is shaking." He held up his hand and Raven frowned when seeing it shake uncontrollably. Jake was worse than she thought.

Raven silently marked her book and got out of her chair. She lightly held onto his wrist and ordered quietly, "Take a deep breath, Jake. Close your eyes. These are stress relievers. Just focus on your breathing and nothing else." Jake did what she said and quickly felt his body calm itself. He didn't even notice when Raven let go of his arm and walk back to her chair to sit in. Raven smiled slightly at him before returning to her book.

After about fifteen minutes of the boy standing there and breathing deeply, Raven thought it best to snap him out of his relaxed state. "Jake, you need to get ready to leave," she told him. She stood up as he opened his eyes to look at her. "Go get dressed. I'll meet you in the living room." She paused before adding quickly, "Cyborg will drive you to shore. You'll be on your own after that."

Jake paused in his brisk walk to his room when he heard her say this. Before he could say anything, she was gone. He gave a sigh and walked back to Robin's room. He quickly pulled on his Red X costume and snapped the Xenothium belt on. Starfire had gotten more Xenothium an hour ago and had refilled it for him. It would come in handy later on.

The teen stopped at the door to the room. He looked around the place with a sort of attachment toward it. Over the past two to three weeks, he had come to like the Tower and the people living in it. His mind finally realized that after this he wouldn't be able to regard them as his team or friends anymore. He would miss the Titans. He might actually miss the identity of being Robin. But he knew that fate hadn't put his wishes into its plan.

With that done, Jake pulled on his mask with a slight frown on his face. But the frown didn't stay there for too long. He was now his favorite identity and that put a smile to his lips. He sprinted down the hallway with his smile widening. At least he would always have something to fall back on. He would always be Red X, the greatest thief in all of Jump City. No one could take that away from the teen.

Red X arrived at the living room in a rush. Raven was already at the computer keyboard. Red X walked up beside her and looked up at the screen while folding his arms in front of him. "Why do you have the map of Jump City up here? What is with the little blinking red lights anyways?"

"Those are their communicators acting like tracking devices," Raven said. She looked down at the communicator in her hands and Red X glanced at it with surprise. She finally held it up to him and said emotionlessly, "This one is yours…for now. Call me or any of the others if you feel the need to. Give it back once you're done here."

Red X took the round device and clipped it onto his belt silently. "You know the plan, Raven," he told her. "I need to get going. Where's Cyborg?"

"In the garage in the T-car," she answered. "He's waiting for you. Don't push your luck with him, okay?"

Red X laughed slightly as he walked off. He suddenly stopped in his tracks as unwanted emotions flew through him. He heaved a sigh while turning around and coming back to Raven. He took off his mask as she turned around when noticing he hadn't left. He lightly took her head into his gloved hands and put his face close to hers. Their eyes locked.

"You're beautiful when you smile, Rae," he whispered to her. She leaned in to kiss him but he stopped her. Their love was forbidden and they both knew that. Jake knew that if he kissed her now, he would have to change his life, and he didn't want that. He was better as a thief and he couldn't let a relationship bolt up that freedom inside of him.

Raven looked at him with hurt in her eyes. Why was he messing so much with her emotions right now? "Please smile more once I'm gone," he told her softly. "I'm sure your team mates love it as much as I do." Tears collected at the corners of Raven's violet eyes as she stared into his. She wished their relationship could deepen, but he had a greater love in his life and she couldn't take that away from him.

"I will," she whispered back. She grinned up at him as he gently kissed her forehead. They both blushed while nervously laughing at how they were acting. "Be careful," she told him as he slowly backed away from her.

Jake laughed out loud as he pulled on his mask again. "Raven, I'm Red X," he said. "When was I ever careful?" Raven didn't say anything as she watched him leave the room. She wiped the tears out of her eyes with the back of her hand. She would miss him.

-Cyborg-

Cyborg started the T-car as Red X opened the passenger seat's door and collapsed into the seat next to him. Cyborg didn't even glance at the teen as he headed for the doors that lead to the underground bridge that would take them to the city. As the car swiftly flew down the underground road, the two teens were silent. Lights on the walls flashed by them and made the inside of the car light up then plunge right back into darkness in a repeating cycle.

Once the car got to land again, Cyborg spoke up. "I'm not against you, X," he said to him without taking his eyes off the road. Red X looked up to the half robot with his masked eyes narrowed with suspicion. But Red X kept his mysterious silence as he waited for Cyborg to explain.

"I never really was against you," Cyborg said with a sigh. "It's just that the Titans learned about trust the hard way. We used to have another Titan on the team. We trusted…" he trailed off at the bad memory of the blonde girl he thought to be their friend.

"Terra?" Red X finished for him. His voice was a bit warped from the mask's built-in speaker.

"Yeah," Cyborg muttered after a long sigh. "We all thought she was for real, and at the end she was and saved the city. But she was really working for Slade. After that, my team and even I have trust issues. I keep seeing you as her. You worked for Slade and pretended to be our friend."

"That's where you're wrong," Red X said slowly. "At first I pretended to be a friend, but after a while I…I uh…saw you guys as my friends." Cyborg glanced down at him with confusion in his eyes. "Robin's a lucky guy to have you guys. As far as friends go, I would only count a few guys in the school, but those don't count because…well…"

"I get the picture," Cyborg said with a chuckle at Red X's stumble for words. "They don't know the real you. They don't know Red X. You did the same with us. It was all fine till you had to build relationships with us even if they were fake ones at first."

Cyborg stopped the car in a vacant alley. "So…we're okay now?" Red X asked him with a smile under his mask.

The half robot stared out of the windshield before smiling down at the teen beside him. The small smile finally broke out to a wide grin as Cyborg said smoothly, "Yeah. We're okay." He held out a hand and the two bumped fists.

"You know what to do," Red X said. "If you can, call me when Val and the rest get over here." He opened the passenger door and was about to step out. He paused while looking down at the pavement with his emotions mysterious to the robot teen. "Don't…" he hesitated before steadily continuing, "Don't think I'm going to keep being a goody good superhero after this." He looked up to Cyborg's questioning face and said, "That life is not mine. Tell the others that."

Cyborg gave Red X a skeptical look. He smiled slightly before saying, "Is the reason why you keep telling us that you're not a good guy is because you're just unsure what you want to do with your life? I've seen you fight, X. You're good, I'll give you that much. Don't waist your life in jail because of a stupid mistake when robbing a museum in the near future." Cyborg looked down with his face getting more serious. "And a life being a great thief gets you into these kinds of situations with Slade a lot more often than you think. I know you don't want your sister to deal with being the hostage for the rest of her life. You being a thief is unfair to her. Consider this, 'kay?"

Red X stared back at Cyborg as his words sunk in. "Yeah," he said quietly. He then got out of the car and closed the door. With only a few swift jumps, the thief was on the roof of a building and steadily heading toward the warehouses where this whole mess begun.

-Robin-

Robin growled into his gag with frustration. He pulled some more on his rope binds that had his arms tied behind him on the wooden chair. Where he was located was the real problem for the superhero. The darkness in the room he was in was so thick that he couldn't see two inches in front of him. Slade had knocked him out with another sedative before they got off the plane. When the boy woke up, he was tied to the chair in a room he had never been in. And now he was getting sick of waiting and tired of the darkness.

Suddenly he heard footsteps close behind him. He almost didn't catch them. Whoever the person was, they didn't want to be heard. Then Robin's gag was taken off, and the first thing he said was, "This could be a trap!"

"Does it seem like I care?" a voice responded quickly. Robin could feel this person sliced through the ropes binding him. Just from the warped, dark voice, Robin guessed the person was Red X. "The plan was for me to somehow get to you."

"A plan?" Robin asked with a smile on his lips. "They came up with one pretty quickly. I hope that signal I gave you worked." He got out of the chair and rubbed his sore wrists that had been bounded and handcuffed for what seemed like days. Everywhere he went he felt like he was tied up.

"It was very creative and helped me get out of a lot of messes with your team," Red X said with his own smile. "So I guess I actually owe you a thanks."

"Did my team give you a hard time?" Robin asked him sarcastically.

Red X quickly came back with, "Like hell they did!" The sentence was just Jake's character coming out.

"Good," Robin said with a laugh. "I'm sure you took them for a loop. How long did you last, anyways?"

"A good solid week or two," Red X said with a shrug. He tapped his foot with impatience. Both of the boys knew that Slade was there somewhere. They were just talking to past the time. Robin gave Red X a wry grin as if to tell him that he was experiencing the same eagerness.

"So how has the superhero life been?" Robin asked while folding his arms in front of his chest.

"It was all right," Red X said with a shrug. "It's too easy to fight with a team, though. Stealing gives you much more of an adrenaline rush."

"I'm sure Robin agrees thoroughly with you, Jake," Slade's voice said from somewhere in the darkness. Flood lights flickered on and the kids were suddenly bathed in an eerie dim spotlight that seemed to over exaggerate on their shadows. Both of the boys reflexively got into fighting stances and tried to spot their adversary somewhere in the darkness outside their circle of light. Their shadows made uncanny dances every time they moved.

"Show yourself, Slade," Robin commanded in a firm voice. His masked eyes narrowed dangerously while he and Red X went back to back. "Why play with us like this? We're tired of your useless games." His eyes desperately searched the darkness around him. But it was no use. Slade wasn't stupid enough to get too close to their weakly lit circle. The man didn't want to be spotted by their probing eyes, and it would stay that way till they figured out another way to spot him.

"I didn't notice that you two were in fact friends," Slade said as he totally ignored Robin's demands and stayed hidden in his darkness. "It really is a small world after all."

"Was that his attempt at joke making?" Red X asked Robin. He had a habit of being sarcastic when he was nervous.

Robin also sometimes had that habit and couldn't help but quickly come back with, "Pitiful isn't it? Imagine having to be the guy's apprentice?"

Red X winced under the mask. "I guess his lame jokes would have to come with the package. Dude, I feel so sorry for you."

"That sounded a little too much like Beast Boy," Robin stated. He gave a wince as another vision of the green teen hit his brain. Robin just hoped that Slade hadn't seen him give that show of pain. His wish wasn't granted.

"Still getting memory flashes, Robin?" Slade asked him. The hair on the back of Robin's neck bristled at this question. He refused to give into Slade's smooth talk and decided to keep quiet as the man continued in a slow, steady voice that creeped both boys out. "You don't fully remember your team or city and you still are trying desperately to save it. I seriously don't see the point."

Red X gave a short sarcastic laugh at the man's statement. "You could say the same for me. This city is my home. Do I really want some madman blowing it up? I'm sure that is one of the many reasons both of us are here right now."

"True, Jake," Slade's voice said to them. "But do remember that you're not going back to the superhero life after this if everything goes your way. You'll just change your school and name and reverse to stealing for your way of life again. I wish Robin had the same bug you had for thieving, but he'll get it soon enough after a few years working for me. He won't admit it, but he likes stealing. He is bored with his superhero life and he wishes he had yours."

"That's not true!" Robin yelled angrily at the darkness. "I love my home, my friends, and my position as superhero. I wouldn't give it up for the world. I wouldn't give it up for some crappy place by your side!"

"But it was so easy to replace you, Robin," Slade said calmly to him through the darkness. Red X suddenly threw an X into the air with a loud yell. It vanished into the blackness surrounding them silently. But the attack was only a desperate attempt to shut Slade up before he went any farther in their conversation. Red X knew exactly where it was going and knew it wouldn't help Robin's mind set.

"Jake effortlessly became you for two weeks without the Titans knowing a thing," Slade said to Robin. His voice was not as calm as before, and he seemed to pressuring the boy. "They were attached to him as they did to you. Think about it, Robin, they didn't know you were half way across the world in my command for two whole weeks! Doesn't that tell you how great they are as friends?"

Red X threw another X while shouting, "Shut up!" He turned to Robin and told him, "Don't listen to the madman. Beast Boy found out in only a few days."

"By accident, my I might add to your reasoning, Jake," Slade added evilly.

"So?" Red X asked with his eyes narrowing. "He and all the others had their suspicions the whole time. Raven knew something was wrong with me and so did Starfire, but it was Raven who looked into it." He looked back to Robin who was surprisingly ignoring him and Slade. He was listening to something. Red X didn't notice this and took Robin's frown as one of uncertainty.

Robin new that if Slade presented this argument any other time, his mind would have doubted everything he believed in. The same thing had happened the first time Slade attempted to make him apprentice. It had destroyed him on the inside. Many lonely nights he would have breakdowns, and he would constantly wake up at nights from nightmares of a tormenting Slade.

But over the years Robin was able to grow and deal with these problems somehow. He was barely a teen when Slade forced him as his apprentice the first time. It had never occurred to the superhero till now, that he was older and he had matured more from when the two last fought over his destiny. Robin had spent years suffering from Slade's doings and his words, but finally the teen realized that he had moved on. His mind didn't doubt his friends' loyalty or his status as superhero.

Instead, Slade's old brutal words only made Robin want to laugh at the man. For the first time in forever, Robin felt firm in his beliefs, and he had a clear understanding as to what path he wanted to take. Even with his loss of memory, the teen knew that no words of Slade's would ever keep him awake at night again.

"Well, Robin, I've realized how much you love your home and friends," Slade's voice said to him. Robin's frown deepened because he knew exactly where Slade was taking this. The man knew his change. He had already devised a plan to counter attack it. "So I've decided to eliminate those things from the equation. At the end, I'll have you with no where to go or someone to confide in. You might hate me for it at first, my boy, but you will thank me in due time."

Without warning, Robin took out two bird-a-rangs and threw one in front of him and the second one off to his side. The move was swift and silent. One gadget actually whacked into something in the surrounding darkness. "There!" Robin yelled at Red X as he promptly ran after the hit target. Red X grinned under his mask while quickly following right after the other teen.

Robin was on the talking robot in seconds. The thing was easy to take down, and just as easy to figure out that it wasn't Slade at all. Both boys stared down at its sparking bits they had torn apart with disgust on their faces. Red X gave a sigh before asking Robin, "Now what?"

"The madman is pulling all the strings at this moment," Robin muttered distastefully. He growled in aggravation before adding, "He'll lead us somewhere else soon."

"You are accurate, my apprentice," Slade said to them as another spot light hit a different section of the room. Both boys stiffened when seeing the real Slade standing in the light. He was in his relaxed stance with both hands behind his back and that one cold eye boring into the superhero and thief. "You have passed all the tests I've given you over the past few years. I was delighted when you passed my final mental test." He paused to let his words sink in before continuing. "Now you must pass my final physical test."

"Pfft!" Red X said confidently with a wave of his hand. He turned to Robin and asked, "What the heck is he talking about now? What does he mean by these tests?"

"You must remember your mental test, Robin," Slade told the superhero with an evil smile creeping onto his lips under his mask. "It was only a year ago. I activated that dust that almost killed you. I was very pleased that you managed to figure the puzzle out just in time." Red X looked back from the scowling Robin to Slade with confusion. "Tell me, Robin," Slade added in a slippery voice, "Do you still fear the dark?"

"If I said yes," Robin asked slowly, "Why would you care, Slade?" The man didn't answer as he only watched Robin with no emotion in his eye. "See?" Robin asked the man with a bleak smile. "That is what makes us different. You get joy out of making others weak or angry. It makes me happy when I save a woman and her child from a robber and when they smile at me in their own way of saying thanks.

"And even though Red X, here, steals and strives to be a thief, most people would think he would be more like you," Robin and Red X shared eye contact for a second before the teen went on. "But Red X is still not like you because he doesn't get joy from making others worthless. He enjoys just seeing the smiling face of his little sister. He's really balancing the two. And the reason you don't like him is because of this. If he was in my spot you know he would bend to your will. You want me because I'm a challenge.

"Face it, Slade, the only reason you would pick me over Red X is because you would get more fulfillment just watching me suffer while slowly bending to your ways. You want me as your apprentice because I'm the one person who won't easily submit to you. I'm a work in progress and the very reason you just won't crumble me up and throw me out of your head is because that would mean I would win…and you…would lose." Robin smiled while saying, "And I know how much you hate to lose."

Red X smiled when seeing the triumph on Robin's face. If he wasn't Red X right now, he would have said something nasty to Slade. But the kid kept his mysterious silence and became the only audience to this fight. And for some odd reason, Jake liked being quiet. He liked being the listener and watcher.

An ominous silence filled the dark room as the adversaries stared at each other. The mood swiftly changed as Slade gave a chuckle of satisfaction. Robin's proud smirk dropped to a small frown. "Very good, my young apprentice," Slade said evilly. "You're thinking capabilities have really developed over the years. I'm pleased. Your theory is an excellent one."

Red X sighed before asking, "You're going to add a 'but' to this, aren't you? You never make life easy for anyone." That silence had been broken quite easily.

"Even if you are annoying and a nuisance, Jake," Slade said to him unemotionally, "You are correct. My test for Robin has not been forgotten." He smiled wickedly under his mask when adding, "And I'll give you one bit of advice for you, Robin, before I present your examination. The only way to defeat this person is for the person to actually kill the person who first killed her."

"What do you freaking mean?" Red X yelled at Slade in frustration. "Do you ever stop talking in riddles?"

Slade's only answer was a sinister laugh. Suddenly the lights shinning on the man turned off and he disappeared into the darkness. At the same time another set of lights blinked on behind them. Both boys spun quickly around with weapons ready in their hands.

Shivers went down Robin's spine as he saw the lone girl in the spotlight. Her cold, light blue eyes stared blankly at both of them. Her eyes were as pale as her vampire white skin. Her fading blonde hair hung straggly around her body that swayed slowly in the light. But her creepy, "The Ring" like look wasn't what made Robin so freaked out of her. It was the dry blood on her face and forehead with an open bullet hole in it.

"No!" Red X barely breathed as his hand holding onto his X started to shake slightly. Robin glanced to him with confusion. Did Red X know this disturbing person? "Its…her," Red X said. Robin looked back to the girl and suddenly realized who she was with a gasp. They were in trouble now.

A/N: I LOVE cliffhangers! I'm sure you can guess who this zombie girl is. I'm so happy how this chapter worked out and that I have the ending planed out inside my head so perfectly. And if you like this fic, then please check out my new one, Speed Mixed With Smarts. And please review! Thanks!


	26. Chapter 26 Promises

A/N: Sorry that this chapter got out later than normal, but I wanted to go over details in my head and I want to tackle these last few chapters perfectly. From the reviews from my last chapter, it seems like I'm doing just that. So here is your newest chapter. Enjoy and review! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't freaking own the characters from Teen Titans!

Chapter 26 Promises

Robin gave a frustrated cry as his body was forcefully pushed backwards for the millionth time that night. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to fight back the blue eyed zombie girl, Jessica. All he managed to do was get himself a headache before brutally slamming, back first, into a wall in the darkened room. He winced at the painful impact and fell to his hands and knees while breathing heavily.

The teen glanced up and saw Jessica's stolid body walking steadily toward Red X. The thief growled a curse under his breath from where he was on the floor across the room. Robin grunted while stumbling to his feet and sprinting toward Jessica. The girl heard him coming and spun around with her emotionless eyes narrowing slightly. She put out her hand while her eyes glowed a deeper blue to indicate she was using her destructive powers.

Robin deftly dodged her swift attack by pulling a bird-a-rang out of his belt and throwing it right when he saw her eyes flash an intense blue. With a battle yell and flash of bright light in his head, Robin broke her power on him and kept running full speed at her.

The gadget lodged itself in Jessica's shoulder. The girl didn't respond to the thing now protruding from her shoulder. Not a scream or cry of pain or anger was released from her. She didn't even look at it. Robin ignored this gruesome fact as he came at her.

"No!" Red X yelled as he collided with Robin's shoulder. The two rolled on the floor and got up dizzily. Robin gave the thief a confused and frustrated look. "I didn't realize it before, but you're not dressed properly for this," Red X explained himself quickly. "If bare skin touches her skin she could kill you instantly."

Robin looked himself over and his heart sank. The thief was right. He was still dressed in the same clothes from Peru. His T-shirt was ripped with stained of blood here and there from his fight with Slade back at the airport in Florida. His pants were worn and beaten. The teen was also bare foot. He wouldn't be able to punch or kick Jessica even if he could.

"I'm afraid we aren't getting anywhere with this," Robin said with a sigh. They started to slowly back up as Jessica gradually walked toward them. "And I've already figured out Slade's clue for defeating her."

"Me too," Red X said solemnly "She won't stop till she kills me or I'm dead."

"I'm _not_ going to kill you, if that is what you think," Robin told him. "You're not going to die on my watch. Got that? If we keep fighting together we can beat her. I mean, she has to give up sometime!"

"Because that always works," Red X said sarcastically. "This demon woman is a zombie, Robin. Either that or she is some kind of ghost. I killed her a whole day ago and now she is more powerful than ever! I worked my butt off killing her the first time. It will be even harder to do it again. You can't even hit her! I say we leave."

"And what will we do with her before we go off trying to find a way out of this place?" Robin asked him with a frown. Before Red X could answer, Robin let out a yell of surprise as he was suddenly hurdled effortlessly through the air. The thief watched with a wince as Robin mentally blocked her but wasn't able to stop his high-speed pace. He landed on the ground with his shoulder roughly and rolled a few times till the teen was able to slow down enough to get up.

Red X looked back to Jessica with his masked eyes narrowed. He quickly pressed a button on his belt and suddenly vanished. While the kid was invisible, Jessica turned around a few times in search for him. Red X pressed the button on his belt again once he was on one of the many rafters in the warehouse. From his new spot, he could over look everything that was going on in the room.

Robin didn't seem to notice that he was gone. He was up and fighting once again. Red X really admired his determination and seriousness for once. He had to admit, Robin had spirit! While Robin attacked the confused Jessica, Red X pulled out his communicator and called for Raven. They needed help!

-James-

"Okay!" James yelled to his kids and Val. "Everyone out! We have a city to save!" The Titans East member with them in the T-ship opened up all their windows. The three kids quickly exploded out their seats and slid down the hot orange metal of the space/water craft with freedom loving smiles. James was right behind his two kids.

Raven greeted them all in the main room. She nodded to the two Titan East members and they quickly took off to the sector in the city they had been assigned to protect. All the Titans had been scattered throughout the city and waiting for the danger sure to come, all hoping against hope that nothing would happen.

"Rae! We need help!" Jake's voice suddenly exploded into the room. The five of them jumped at the sudden sound of the teen's voice. The computer screen only showed perpetual static and wouldn't bring up the thief's picture. Raven was just grateful that they could still locate his communicator.

Raven's frown deepened as she went to the computer controls and barked into the microphone, "What is it, Jake?" She didn't like it when their plans went awry. Jake had better not have been kidding with her.

"It's Jessica!" Jake said in a rush of words. "S…she's back! And she is ten times more powerful! Robin and I can barely even get a punch in."

"Who's Jessica?" Abe asked with the tilt of his head to indicate his confusion.

"What did you do, kill her?" James asked Red X with frustration.

There was a pause on the other end. "Uh…how did you know that?" Red X asked.

James looked to the floor with his eyes filling up with tears at the bad memory. His voice shook a little as he said quietly, "My wife was killed by a Sally Hunter. My wife had killed her before, easily, for the CIA, but then one day she came back from work and there Sally was, waiting for her. I…I came home to see my wife's dead body on the ground next to Sally's. Jessica Hunter must be a descendant from Sally somehow and has all the same powers. She won't give up till you are dead."

Red X paused on the other end as his mind processed this information with much difficulty. The fact that a crazy psycho-path zombie girl would always be after him till he finally died was a hard thing to accept. "There…there has to be another way," Red X said desperately. "I made a promise! I draw the line of being a hero and letting this girl kill me!"

James stared at the computer screen in deep thought. Abe and Sam discussed this new dilemma with each other in hushed voices while Valentine butted in a few times to get her views across to the other two. Raven slowly started to move her focus on them and realized that they were now arguing about something. She glanced back at James and saw that he had come to a conclusion.

"I thought about this subject for a long time," he told them and Red X. "I have a theory on how to kill her, but I can't guarantee that it will work."

"Anything is better than dying," Red X muttered.

"Do you have something sharp, like a knife, with you?" James asked.

"Sure," Red X said.

"Good," James said with a nod. "The plan is now going to change. Tell Robin to leave and find Abe and they both try to find Slade while Sam goes with Raven and try to stop whatever detonation for these bombs placed around the city. You were smart to station everyone throughout the city. If the girl's can't do that, they could always find the bombs' locations. I'm going to stay here and coast you through this thing with the Hunter girl. Got it?"

"Um…you sure your kid and Raven will be alright?" Red X asked hesitantly. "And how is Val?"

"I'm good, Jakey!" Val called out to him cheerfully even though her voice was a lie. She was worried about him. She had experienced Jessica too many times to count and despised the evil girl. She didn't want to think about the battle going on between them now. She also thought it a bit creepy that the girl was back from the dead.

"Sam will be fine with Raven," James said after getting a positive nod from Raven that told him she would go along with the new plan.

"If you say so," Red X said. "I'm going to tell Robin this now. I'll call you when he's gone." Right after the teen was done talking; a picture of Beast Boy came up. The changeling looked deeply worried as he fidgeted with the collar of his costume. "Houston, we have a problem," he said grimly.

"What is it, Beast Boy?" Raven asked after a tiered sigh.

"Seems like we have invisible walking thingies that like to terrorize the city," Beast Boy said. He tried to put on a smile, but he failed miserably at doing so. "I guess Slade forgot to tell Jake this part of his plan."

"Tell the others," Raven ordered swiftly. She positioned herself proudly in front of the keyboard of the computer screen like a strict military officer having command over the whole army. "See if you can turn off whatever is keeping them invisible. Are they heading anywhere?"

"Not really," Beast Boy said with a shrug. His apprehension seemed to evaporate when he was suddenly under command, and his happy-go-lucky smile was steadily returning to his face. "Mine at least is just going around in circles and crashing into random buildings. Maybe they are blind."

Raven rolled her eyes in response, which this was only the reaction Beast Boy was aiming for. He smiled at her as she said emotionlessly, "Keep it that way. I'm turning over the main command to James for now on. If you have a problem, talk to him."

"Right away, Rae!" Beast Boy said with a salute, a goofy smile planted on his face. He then hung up and the screen returned to the map of Jump City showing the five where everyone was located. Raven smiled faintly at James as he took over. She made a pool of darkness open up under her and his two kids. Abe and Sam smiled at their dad and gave small waves of goodbye. He grinned back at them. He could tell they were nervous and a bit scared. They were so brave. Valentine watched with wide eyes of fascination as the group disappeared without a trace.

"And so we go," James muttered as his eyes lingered on the spot his kids used to be. He then turned his gaze toward Valentine and she gave him a quick, worried smile. He smiled faintly back then stared up at the giant computer screen before him. They had such a small chance of coming out of this ordeal alive. Even if they did, these kids and teens would be emotionally scared for maybe the rest of their lives. James could only hope and pray they would all live on.

-Red X-

"Robin!" Red X called out to the other teen as he jumped from his high spot in the rafters. He gracefully landed in a neat crouch behind Jessica. The zombie girl snapped around and tried to seize the thief with her powers. Red X predicted this and flipped out of the way of her invisible force. "Plans have changed!" he called to Robin.

Robin snuck up behind Jessica as her main focus was on Red X again. He jumped up behind her and pushed off her back with both of his feet. Using the momentum, Robin did a small, efficient flip in the air before landing in the same spot he had taken off from. Jessica fell forward and onto her face without a sound.

"I didn't even know the first plan before it was revised," Robin said to Red X. He gave a sharp yell as Jessica lunged at him with both of her bare arms. He did a few back flips to avoid her, but she kept running after him with a sickening moan coming from her. Robin suddenly changed direction of his flip and came back at her. His heel struck the top of her head and she went down with another creepy moan of anger that was starting to arise. Robin quickly rolled out of the way as Red X threw three X's. The sharp gadgets lodged into Jessica's back, and she growled in pure madness.

"Well, here it is," Red X told Robin. The two stood side by side and watched as Jessica's rotting body writhed on the floor. They never took their eyes off the girl; for fear that she would release another rampage of her brutal powers. "You need to go and find Abe and then take down Slade. I'll stay here and take care of Jessica under James's guidance. Raven and Sam are going to try and find out where Slade has set up his bombs around the city. Everyone else is out around the city and will go into action whenever they are told."

Robin thought about this news for a second. Jessica began to regain her blank composure and started to slowly get up off the dirty floor. Red X glanced over to Robin impatiently as the leader made his decision. "Can we hurry up with this thinking, kid?" Red X finally asked him. "We have an issue on our hands." He pointed to Jessica, who was slowly yanking out the three X's stuck into her back. She just as easily flicked the bird-a-rang in her shoulder away. The gadget hit the cement floor with a small _clank_ that echoed throughout the giant room. It was followed by the three red X's.

"I can't just leave you here," Robin said to Red X. "You said so yourself that her powers were stronger now."

Red X growled into his mask as he backed up from Jessica with Robin. "So you're going to stay here like Slade's good little apprentice?" he barked back at Robin, his tone disgusted with the other teen. "Face it, kid, Slade wants you here to complete his stupid 'test'. So go ahead and give the dude what he wants! Hey, I would love the extra help!"

Jessica suddenly lunged at both of them. The two boys gave surprised yelps as they ducked swiftly at the same time. Jessica went sailing over the two and did another face plant on the cement. Robin had his Bo Staff out while Red X held onto two more X's. Robin lightly hit Red X's shoulder and the thief looked up at the leader with confusion.

"You make a good point," Robin muttered to him with some resentment. He hit Red X another time on the shoulder while growling, "Don't die, 'kay? Val doesn't need a dead brother after this." He got into Red X's face and said coldly, "And don't ever call me Slade's little apprentice again."

"I love you too, Robin," Red X said sarcastically back. He smiled under his mask while saying, "Buh-bye!" Robin gave him a wry smile before jogging into the darkness in search of an exit. Red X looked down to where Jessica's body used to be and froze in fear. She was gone! He muttered a curse under his breath while flinging out his communicator and calling up James in a rush.

"Something wrong?" James asked once he saw the fuzzy picture of the teen come up on the computer screen. "You look worried," he pointed out with a grim smile. Of course the man couldn't be sure because the thief was still wearing his skeleton looking mask.

Before Red X could respond to the obvious, his body locked into place and was pushed forcefully to the ground. The teen yelled in pain as his head smashed against the cement. Stars danced across his vision and the world spun. The communicator skittered across the floor, and Red X could faintly hear Valentine scream in fright on the other end. The thief could indistinctly hear James yell orders at him to get up.

But the boy had a big problem on his hands. No matter what he did, he couldn't break out of the hold the invisible Jessica had on him. Panic gripped his heart like an icy hand. A pounding headache tortured his bleeding head and he winced as unconsciousness threatened to overtake him.

"You've been a bad boy, Jakey," Jessica's cold voice suddenly cut through the dark silence. Red X squeezed his eyes and grunted as he tried desperately to break the hold she had on his body again. His tries were fruitless, though. He was like a magnet to the floor.

"What do you want, Jess?" Red X growled at the girl who was hiding somewhere in the darkness.

"You know what I want, Jake," Jessica said coolly. In the darkness, Jake could only see her luminous blue eyes as they stared sharply at him. He knew that she had her trademark wicked smile on her face now. He could almost see that small, cruel curl on the side of her face as he stared back into her eyes. The girl finally slinked closer to his motionless body on the floor. She loomed over him and savored the power she now held in her cold, dead hands.

Red X tried not to gasp in fright as the girl bent over him. "You killed me, Jake," Jessica said almost sadly, her malicious smile turning into a pretend frown. Her delicate fingers slowly pulled off the boy's mask as she said down to him smoothly, "Death is something I wish to complete. You see, Jakey, when you killed me, I didn't fully die. Half of me is in limbo now while the more powerful side of me is here, has to complete her final mission." She paused to watch Jake squirm in her grasp. "My mission is to kill you, Jake, and you know this," she whispered unfeelingly, the evil smile returning to her lips.

Jessica placed her bare hand on Jake's forehead. Jake squeezed his eyes shut with a sharp yell as an icy blast shocked his body. He didn't want to die this way, under the power of a psycho path. People were counting on him to pull through. He made a promise to come out alive. His blood boiled as he thought of all the pain Slade and this girl was putting him through. His eyes snapped open and he glared lethally up at Jessica.

Her face changed for only the briefest of a second. She looked…scared. The light in her eyes had dimmed slightly at the time and her powers were weak as well. Jake only needed that second to get free. "No!" he yelled loudly at her. She gasped as her powers somehow backfired on herself and she sent her body flying through the air. She landed with a deafening thud on the cement without a word.

Jake picked himself up while breathing deeply. He limped over to his communicator and picked it up with a wince. "No need to worry, folks," he muttered sarcastically to James and Valentine. "A Red X was harmed in the making of this scene."

"Are you able to fight, still?" James asked him with wide eyes full of worry and fear.

"Besides a splitting headache, maybe a broken rib, and a few scares and bruises, I'm perfectly fine," Jake said with a tiered yet proud smile. He looked over to Jessica's body and saw her slowly start to get back up with painful moans. "Just…quickly tell me how to kill this freak so I can pass out," Jake said to James.

"Not so fast, my busy little worker," Slade's voice smoothly cut through the foreboding darkness. Jake froze at the sound of the calm voice. He had thought that Slade was finished with him. Confusion swept over the teen's face as he looked back at the communicator for answers. "It seems like your little plan will fail, young one," Slade continued slickly. "The walls have ears, you know."

Jake's eyes went wide as he realized what Slade meant. While Red X had told Robin the new plan, Slade had heard everything. Quickly, Jake ordered James, "Tell me how to kill Jessica!"

"W-what did Slade mean?" James asked, confused. He hadn't heard fully what Slade said.

"No time!" Jake yelled. "Just tell me!"

"You have to decapitate her," James said in a rush. He explained when seeing Jake's deep confusion. "She has moving and living chemicals in her brain that turn on when she is killed. Just think of it as that videogame and movie…"

"Resident Evil!" Valentine finished for him.

Jake smiled at the thought and winked at his little sister on the other side. He then quickly said, "Now tell Sam and Raven to…" Suddenly the screen went fuzzy and in seconds he was completely cut off. Jake stared at the thing in his hands with shock for a second. He then growled in anger and yelled to Slade, "What do you want with me, Slade? I did my part in your stupid little plan!"

"Oh, but you're dead wrong, Jake," Slade's voice said to him. This time it came from all around as if from speakers. "You see, you and I made a promise as well. You promised me you would do the job."

"I did!" Jake yelled back.

"You rated me out, Jake," Slade said curtly. "That's not doing your job."

Jake folded his arms in front of him and asked, "So what now? Having Jessica kill me is not what you actually promised, Slade. Do you expect me to survive this battle?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Slade said wickedly.

Jake had to have a double take. He shook his head and said with frustration, "I don't freaking get you! Why are you even talking to me? Okay, yeah, I backstabbed you and crap, but what's with the encouragement all of the sudden?"

Slade gave a cold laugh at the boy's aggravation. Shivers shot through Jake's spine as he stood there waiting for his answer. "My dear boy, that wasn't encouragement at all," Slade told him. "I'm hoping you do survive this so when I kill you years later you can wish your life was stopped this day. You spoiled my plans, so I plan on destroying yours. A deal is a deal."

A/N: I think this chapter came out pretty well. I could go on, but I need a cliffhanger. The fun is coming up in the next chapter or two. We have fight scenes galore and some blood will be shed to save this city. And now that school is out, my updates will be coming a lot faster. See you guys next week! Please review!


	27. Chapter 27 The Warrior Inside

A/N: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I was avoiding it for a reason. But now I officially know exactly how I'm going to end this fic, so that makes me happy that I'm actually ending something. Well, enjoy the chapter! Please R&R.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Teen Titan character!

Chapter 27 The Warrior Inside

She cut through the air as swift as a diving bird. Her eyes and hands glowed a brilliant green as her invisible target's hazy outline was shown briefly to her. With a battle yell, Starfire let loose a barrage of a dozen or so starbolts onto the mechanical thing. But her attack proved worthless as the robot continued to walk up and down the street without a purpose at all. The only way to tell it was there because of it made giant dents in the road and because it made a loud whirling sound.

Starfire hovered in the air with confusion and worry planted on her face. She took out her communicator and called up James. Her green eyes went wide with surprise when her screen split up into many sections because so many others were talking to James too. The other Titans looked either frustrated or worried like her. James was trying to keep the others cool as they all told him that none of their attacks were working.

"Look," James yelled at them to get his point across, "My connection with Jake and the others in the warehouse has been cut off. If they found out something, I wouldn't know about it. You'll just have to keep fighting these things. From the looks of things, there are only five. Team up."

There was a pause as everyone gave sighs and asked another for help. Eventually everyone hung up and continued to fight. James ran a shaky hand through his blonde hair and tried once again to get contact with Raven's communicator. His calm demeanor was quickly slipping away. He sighed as his tries were beginning to become pointless.

He suddenly stopped when he realized Valentine was standing next to him. Tears streamed down her face as she stared silently up at the screen. "They aren't going to make it, are they?" she asked in a shaky voice.

James wrapped his arms around her small form as she sobbed. "Jake will live, Val," James told her firmly in a whisper. "He is too strong to give up now."

"What about Sam and Abe?" she asked between sobs.

The breath was knocked out of James as he thought about his kids again. He already lost a loved one. What if he had to lose two more? He wouldn't be able to live. His kids were practically his life besides his God. He hugged Valentine closer and closed his eyes as memories of his wife came back to him. Finally he whispered faintly back to Val, "I don't know. All we can do is hope and pray."

-Raven-

There was a second of complete silence. Raven easily searched for the place she wished to teleport herself, Abe, and Sam to quickly. She could feel their mixed emotions emerge into hers. Whispering her mantra, Raven sprung from her spot in the Tower all the way to a selected location in the warehouse underground. Slowly, she released herself from the two she was carrying. When she opened her eyes, Abe and Sam where beside her with wide eyes of wonderment.

"That was…different," Abe said finally with a nervous chuckle. The two kids checked out their surroundings with grim expressions on their faces. They were in a dark hallway with little light bulbs showing them a dim pathway to various doors and stairwells. The walls, floor, and ceiling was only dirt. Abe couldn't help but feel like the roof would fall on them as he noticed this.

Sam popped open her laptop and typed in a few things. Raven didn't know what she was doing, but trusted that it would help their situation somehow. Abe waited as well and smiled at the Goth girl when they made eye contact.

"Done," Sam said proudly with a smile. Raven raised an eyebrow as if to ask a silent question. Sam explained as she turned the mini computer toward Raven and her brother. Neon green lines planned out the whole underground hideout with much detail. Raven was a bit impressed. This was a kid doing this. "I was able to scan this whole underground complex with a few tricks with this computer. Thank the CIA for this one."

"Again," Abe added while rolling his eyes.

"Don't interrupt," Sam scolded.

"Jeez! Sorry!" Abe said while putting up his hands and backing away to give his sister some room. Raven resisted the urge to roll her eyes. These two were kids alright. They fought like any average siblings their age. She just hoped they wouldn't start arguing when it came down to serious business.

"Anyways," Sam continued before giving her brother a death glare, "It seems like Slade has made a pretty intricate hideout for himself, here. It has four floors if you include the warehouses as the first. We are on the second. If Slade wanted a place to put computers and tech, he would need a power source for them. I think the room he is running things is on the third floor, so that is where Raven and I should head."

"But what about Robin?" Abe asked with a shrug. "This place is huge! And let's not forget that these underground tunnels could lead to the other warehouses around here. It could take me some time to find him. And I don't want to bump into Slade and have to fight him by myself."

Raven closed her eyes and spoke her mantra. It seemed like she had left her body as her spirit searched the whole warehouse at light speed. She quickly found Robin on the floor above them just coming into the main warehouse. She opened her eyes and said to Abe, "He's in the warehouse above us. He's searching for you right now."

Abe paused with some shock coming to his face. He finally smiled and said, "Well that was easy. Do you do that often?" Sam elbowed him in the stomach for his question. He glared at her while muttering, "It was just a question."

"We need to leave," Raven said sternly to both of the kids. Her patience was slipping quickly with these two. She was sure they would put their game faces on once they were separated from each other. "Abe, you go that way," she ordered the boy while pointing one way down the hallway after a quick glance at the map on the computer. "Call us if you have problems," she said while handing him a communicator.

"Nifty," Abe said while looking at the device in his hands carefully. Sam sighed while rolling her eyes. "But just incase," he said with a mischievous smile. He quickly shape shifted into Robin with the scares, clothes, and hair exactly like the leader. Raven tried not to show her surprise. "Slade isn't out to kill Robin, so if I'm him I'll be safe till Slade figures it out that it's really me."

"Genius," Sam muttered sarcastically. "And how's your ankle holding out?"

Abe winced at the mention of it. "I'll manage," he finally muttered. "I'll see you two soon," he said while taking off into the dark hallway. His light footsteps echoed quietly as he disappeared into the darkness. After a few seconds, so did his footsteps. Raven and Sam silently walked the opposite direction Abe had headed.

Raven stole a few glances toward Sam every few seconds. The girl was rigid and nervous from what Raven could see. She had a full right to be. Raven knew that if she didn't meditate and constantly kept her emotions in check that at that moment she would be just as anxious. The faint light of the computer screen bounced off Sam's glasses and lit her face with a faded green color. Sam suddenly stared back at the watching Raven. The girl's quizzical stare startled the Titan.

"I'm glad you are helping us get Robin back," Raven said to make any kind of conversation with the quiet girl beside her. Raven was relieved when she saw Sam smile sweetly at her. Sam wasn't nervous about the situation, Raven noticed now. She was tense being around Raven. It almost made Raven laugh.

"Do you think your brother will be okay with Robin?" Raven asked Sam, trying to break the tension.

"Abe's fine anywhere there is action," Sam said with a laugh. "He might be an idiot anywhere else, but when he is fighting, his mind works like a genius." She smiled bitterly while adding slowly, "Its funny how I'm the complete opposite of him that way."

"How?" Raven asked. She felt the girl's resentment as if it was her own. Raven knew how she was feeling alone and unimportant. Raven had dealt with those feelings for years with her team. It was only after her father's destruction that she realized how much her friends loved her. She wanted Sam to know that her father and brother loved her more than anything at the moment. Raven knew exactly what Sam was going through.

"Well, I'm great at thinking things through and figuring problems out," Sam answered with a heavy sigh. Her nervousness around Raven vanished as she opened up a little of her heart to the Goth girl. "But when it comes down to fighting…I suck! My brain freezes up and I can't do anything productive. My mom was kind of like me in that way, so I confided in her a lot."

Raven felt a weight of sadness drop on both of them. Her mother was gone too. "But now she's gone," Raven said solemnly, "So now you've been with two guys who don't know what you're going through. They might try to help you, but they never seem to help you're aching heart. Loneliness starts to kick in even though you surround yourself with people. You then start to feel worthless and the feelings slowly start to get worse and drag you down. It's a depressing process."

"You say all this like you've been through it," Sam stated after a knowing nod.

Raven sighed as she searched for words of wisdom to tell this girl. She didn't think of herself as wise or anything, but she knew this one ordeal because she had suffered through it and had the scares to prove it. She had wanted someone to show her the pathway of light, but sadly she had to search for it on her own. But now she had the chance to give someone that nudge in the right direction and she was going to take the opportunity willingly.

"Sam," Raven firmly addressed her, "Just know that people love you. You are a bright, beautiful young lady with a big future in front of you. I know that your brother would be lost without your guidance, and your dad would be driven insane with only your brother around. And for when you fight, don't just remember a move or something; know that you have the power to take someone else down. A burning fire of madness is in everyone. For some people it's hard to unleash it, while for others, like your brother and Robin, it's their power source. But fear can prevent you from tapping into this, so don't be afraid of anything the next time you fight. If you can do that, you will fight like a true warrior."

Sam stared up at Raven with respect and wonder in her eyes. She then finally smiled and said quietly, "My mom said something like that one day to me…but I had forgotten it. Thank you for the great reminder." She then giggled and said, "This conversation was unexpected. To tell you the truth, I was kind of scared of you at first."

Raven let herself laugh a little before saying, "I kind of saw that."

Sam suddenly stopped in front of a metal door in the hallway. Raven quickly put on the brakes and stood beside her as they both looked at the computer screen, their faces glowing green in the darkness. "This is it," Sam said with a firm nod. "This is the closest place to a power source on the surface."

With a simple wave of her hand, Raven forced the door to slide open for them. They walked in cautiously while looking around the large, dimly lit room they were now in. Just as Sam had predicted, computers and various monitors lined the walls. This room wasn't like the hallway and had metal floors and walls. A main computer was stationed on the far wall and was showing many black and white footage of the different rooms and hallways around Slade's complex lair. Other footage was on the Titans in the city fighting something both girls couldn't fully make out.

Silently, the two walked further into the room. They gasped as the flood lights blinked on above them and the whole room was bathed in bright light. They quickly found out they were surrounded by Slade-bots. Raven went into defensive position as her eyes narrowed into black slits. She stood close to Sam who was looking around with fright in her eyes.

Raven looked over to the main computer screen and growled in anger as she saw Slade standing there. His hands were clasped calmly behind his back as he watched her with his one eye. "You two will do perfectly," he said coldly to them. His voice sent cold shivers down Sam's spine while only boiled Raven's blood. Slade smiled wickedly before giving his robots the command to attack.

All the robots started to shoot their laser guns at the two. Raven quickly put her hands above her head and made a black force field to protect them. Sam grabbed Raven's communicator out of her pocket and tried to call somebody. All she was able to get was static. "It's not working!" she yelled up to Raven.

"Then we will have to fight our way out!" Raven yelled back down above the laser fire.

Sam nodded firmly while closing her laptop. She had that game face on that Raven had seen many times on her teammates. This girl was ready to fight. Raven dropped her shield and melted into a pool of darkness underneath her. Sam duck rolled toward a robot and ducked under it just as another round of lasers shot toward her. They hit the robot she was now behind. The thing exploded and sent scrap metal throughout the room.

Raven reappeared behind another robot, her eyes pools of nothingness. She yelled her mantra and cut her hand through the air. The robot was cleanly sliced in half. It fell over in sparking bits. Raven did her best to destroy the robots without warring out. Usually she had other people to back her up. If she was knocked out for even a second, she knew she wouldn't stand a chance and Sam wouldn't either.

Sam was doing as much damage as Raven was doing. She had used her laptop as a bat at one time to smash a robot's head in. Her laptop had also been destroyed, but it had erased another robot from the playing field. For once she was using all the training she had been taught. Right when she thought she wouldn't be able to come through, that fire inside of her suddenly sparked, and she gripped onto it with a wicked smile.

But once most of the first set of robots was lying in broken parts around the room, more came out of nowhere. Raven could feel her energy gradually leave her body. She was beginning to get knocked around a bit, and she paused before defending herself at times. Sweat was poring down both girls' faces as the fight continued. Their breathing became labored. But they kept fighting viciously. It seemed like nothing would stop them.

Sam gave a loud battle yell as she roundhouse kicked a robot in the neck and brought him to the ground. Any fear of getting hurt or dong the wrong thing had left her long ago. A warrior inside her had been set free. It was something she never knew could happen to her. It felt exhilarating elating. She actually loved it.

As she punched the robot's face with a tight fist, Sam knew she was in the perfect place. Even as the robot brought up his laser gun to her chest, Sam knew her time had been well spent in her last few minutes on earth. She didn't close her eyes or scream as the laser cut straight through her heart. She embraced death like a true fighter.

Raven saw the laser shoot out of her comrade from the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened in fear and disbelief. "Sam!" she cried while releasing a wave of black energy and throwing about five robots around the room. The enchantress wildly cut a path for herself through the robots till she was at her fallen comrade's side. But by the time Raven was kneeling over Sam's body, the girl was dead.

A lump Raven wasn't able to swallow formed in her throat as she stared down at Sam. Hot tears formed in her violet eyes. She didn't think this would happen. She wished she could have done something. Raven felt helpless as she cradled Sam's head in her hands. "No!" she whispered as sorrow washed over her. She desperately tried to hold onto a stable emotion.

Before anything else could happen, something hard whacked into the back of Raven's head. She was out before her body hit the ground. Slade stood over both of the girls in thought. He was about to kill Raven with his raised laser gun…but then he thought of the future and left her there. He would kill her later on in life; he was sure, along with the rest of her teammates. One would do for now.

Slade motioned for his robots to pick up Sam's dead body. Small drops of blood splattered onto the metal floor as they carried her to the door with Slade in the lead. The man stopped at the doorway and glanced back at Raven's unconscious body. He smiled evilly under his mask then left.

A/N: I get too attached to my characters, I'm afraid. I had planned on killing Sam for a long while, but its difficult to kill someone off that you made…except Jessica. I hope I didn't shock you too much. My long finale is the next chapter! It might take two or three weeks to produce. See you next chapter! Please don't forget to review!


	28. Chapter 28 Win or Defeat

A/N: This is your long awaited for ending to a very long fan fiction. Whew! I never dreamed of making it. I'll shut up now and give you readers what you want. It's long for a good reason. Enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: Any Teen Titans character in this fic I do not own.

Chapter 28 Win or Defeat

A wild, frantic look was plastered to Jake's face as he sprinted through the darkness. He couldn't see a thing in the blackness, but Jessica seemed to be completely fine with it. She stood in the middle of the warehouse and only had to look at Jake to take control of him.

Jake had to take in mind that if she couldn't focus on him it was harder for her to take command of his body. That was why he was running around the building blindly. The whole time he kept those two blue eyes in sight. They were the only real hint to Jessica's location.

Gritting his teeth, Jake put on his brakes quickly. A dust cloud formed around him. Those eyes looked his way but he was already gone, using his belt to turn himself invisible. He silently ran straight towards Jessica while taking out the X shaped razors on the back of his gloves. With a battle cry he struck out to her neck.

"No!" he cried as Jessica sensed him at the last second and pushed him away. He only managed to lightly scrape her sickly pale neck. Before he was pushed back into the darkness, he could see her tap her wound and growl in anger.

Her broke out of her hold with much difficulty. Her anger was the only thing keeping her mental abilities strong. After landing not so gracefully, Jake picked himself up and tried not to pant so much. He had to be silent to sneak up on her. Someone panting like a dog wouldn't be too great at that job.

The teen had been at this battle for more than a half an hour now with no breaks to rest. He was sore, beat up, and had a headache that just didn't know when to quit. He had tried numerous times to kill the girl by decapitating her, but she seemed to know what his plans were and wouldn't let him come near her neck. That little scratch she had now was the best Jake had done in the whole time he had been fighting.

Jake spotted a pillar as he ran. He hid behind it and closed his eyes to rest for a few seconds. He didn't think he was getting anywhere. Jessica was just too strong. He was going to pass out if he had to keep up this pace. Jake winced as the thought hit himself of him finally succumbing to this girl. What was he going to do?

He suddenly had a thought. It would most likely use up every drop of Xenothium in his new belt, but it could work. He was going to make it work. Narrowing his eyes in determination, the boy started to run around again. He took out about a dozen red X's and started to throw them at the girl as he circled her. He used up all the X's in his possession and skidded to a stop and ran the opposite way.

By now Jessica was growling in pure hatred because of him. Dozens of X's were sticking out of her body. Blood slowly trickled out of her wounds. She was about to pour everything out on Jake, but then he turned invisible. She screamed in her own madness. Her anger for him was getting worse every second. The next time she saw him she was going to explode on him.

"Up here!" he called down to her from above. She looked up to the rafters and saw him there. With a wild yell she threw up her hands and focused all her energy on him. Jake yelled in pain as he grabbed onto the side of the rafter with all his might. His arms felt like they were going to be pulled out of their sockets. He wouldn't be surprised if he heard a pop.

Jessica gave up with him after a few tries. She let his body go with another growl. He collapsed onto the rafter with a wince and didn't even try to get back up to his feet. Jessica decided that if he wasn't coming down, she had to get him. She started to move her own body slowly upward; it was a move that took full concentration on her part. But Jake wasn't doing anything and was still recouping on the rafter, or so she thought.

Suddenly Jake looked right into her eyes with an evil smirk on his lips. Jessica stopped her ascend and stared back at him in the middle of the air. She was stuck. If she moved him, she would break her concentration on herself and she would fall. But she was vulnerable to any of his attacks if she didn't attack him now.

Jake aimed his palm at her and was about to shoot his red goo at her, but she made up her mind. She quickly flew above him, on her way to a set of rafters above Jake. The teen predicted this move and his smile widened and pointed up at her before she could land above him.

"Just harder the fall," he said while shooting at her. His aim was true, and Jessica quickly found herself covered in red sticky stuff. Her concentration vanished and she began to fall. As she did, Jake kept shooting his red gooey X's at her relentlessly. She hit the cement ground hard with a sick thud.

Jake stood up straight on his rafter far above Jessica's covered body. He let out a pent up breath as he made the X's on his gloves come out again. He swiftly jumped off the rafter and down upon Jessica. The red goo around her body softened his fall. He stuck an end of the sharp X's on each side of Jessica's neck. He could feel her body wiggle and wreath in her red, sticky goo soon to be her grave.

With a simple and swift cross of his arms, Jake's X's sliced through her neck cleanly. Her body stopped once her brain was disconnected to her body. She was officially gone. Jake looked away from her corpse and sheathed his blades silently. He didn't look back as he walked into the darkness. His job here was done. He had other things to do.

-Robin-

The two boys had been with each other for only ten minutes and they were already seeing progress. Both of them had their backs pressed up against the wall and were silently peeking behind the corner in the hallway. Two Slade-bots were stationed outside a door armed with two laser guns. The soft glow from the lamp above them reflected off their slick armor.

Abe suddenly grabbed onto Robin's wrist and looked down with a panicked look on his face. Robin bit his lip to stop himself from gasping at Abe's sudden move. He glared down at him till he saw the fear in his eyes. He looked down and swore inside his head.

A giant black centipede, maybe a foot or so long, was starting to crawl up Abe's pant leg. The kid shook his leg a few times and stopped when the thing hissed in anger at this disturbance. Abe looked up to Robin for any kind of help on the matter. Robin mouthed to him to not move. Centipedes could be poisonous and Robin wasn't planning on losing Abe because of a stupid bug.

Robin took out a bird-a-rang from his back pocket. The centipede was now crawling up Abe's shirt. Its mouth was inches away from his exposed neck. Robin held the gadget over the bug and got the nod from Abe to kill it. In one clean swipe, the bug was cut in half and fell to the floor dead. Both boys let out a sigh relief.

Abe looked up and his relieved expression changed into one of alarm. "Behind yo…!" But he was too late. A robot swiftly had Robin's hands in handcuffs and another one had grabbed Abe. Robin lashed out with a kick and nailed the robot behind him in the chin. He turned around and was faced with a dozen more robots.

It took ten minutes for the robots to finally get a hold on the two boys. By the time the fight was done, three robots laid in sparking pieces of scrape metal. Abe was now in handcuffs as well. He had to be carried away by three robots who weren't being to gentle with him as he protested the whole time. Robin wasn't shouting like Abe was, but he wasn't making the robots' job easy for them.

Roughly, the two where shoved into the room they had been watching and waiting to ambush. Abe cried out as his ankle gave out on him and he feel to his hands and knees. "What's the problem?" Robin asked him while kneeling down beside the fallen kid. The teen was seized by the back of his shirt and dragged forward. "Let go!" Robin yelled at it, frustrated with their new position.

"It's my ankle," Abe said through a wince as he too was dragged violently forward. Finally the two were let go and forced to their knees on the coarse dirt ground. Their situation just got worse it seemed. Slade stood before them with his arms crossed in front of him. His one eye sized both boys up in a few seconds. Robin knew the man had to be smiling smugly under his mask now. It made the teen's blood boil in anger.

"Just in time to see your new present," Slade said down to both of them. He clasped his hands behind him calmly before nodding behind his shoulder to some robots in the shadows behind him. Robin's stomach dropped as if on a roller coaster as he saw the triumph in the madman's eyes. He watched with dread as the robots came out holding onto a motionless figure.

"Sam!" Abe screamed in horror as he watched her body being thrown in front of both of them. Robin gasped as he put his hands to his mouth in shock. It was clear that she was dead. The laser hole went right through her heart. Sadness suddenly pressed onto Robin as he stared at her dead body. He desperately tried to hold back his tears. They still had the problem of Slade on their hands. He couldn't let emotion get to him.

Abe was in a lot worse shape. He kneeled over his sister's body with tears poring down his face. "Not again!" he whispered to himself while squeezing his eyes shut as memories of his dead mother flashed into his head. He couldn't bear to see another one of his family members die. He wished he was dreaming all this, but when he opened his eyes, his sister was still there.

"Abe," Robin said solemnly to him, "I…I'm sorry."

"Of course you are!" Abe snapped at him. "And I have nothing freaking against you, Robin!" He glared dangerously up at Slade as the anger inside of him burned. "I'm against _him_!" he yelled while pointing to Slade.

"Abe, don't do something stupid," Robin said quickly. He knew that look in the kid's eyes. He used to have it every time someone even mentioned Slade. He could see a lot of his younger self in Abe now. He knew whatever he would say to him was not going to do anything to stop him from acting out of anger. He wasn't surprised when the boy suddenly sprung forward toward Slade with a loud battle yell.

As if whacking a pesky fly away, Slade simply blocked the boy's attack and grabbed his neck. In a swift motion, he slammed Abe's back against a steel pillar. Abe's eyes were wide in fright now. He winced as he fought for air. None was coming, though. "Crap, crap, crap…" Abe repeated to himself as he realized his stupid move. He was paying the deadly price now.

Narrowing his eyes, Robin got up and raced toward Slade. "Stop!" he yelled while throwing a bird-a-rang with his hands still cuffed. The blade struck Slade's thumb that was pressed against Abe's neck. Slade quickly released the kid. Abe gasped for air and fell to the ground ready to pass out. Slade backed off and let Robin catch his friend.

Abe passed out in Robin's arms. The teen slowly lowered the kid to the floor gently. He would be okay, but he had been close to death. Robin stood back up and glared at Slade. "You went too far, Slade," he growled at the man.

"They were both in my way," Slade said casually. He pulled out the bird-a-rang in his hand and crushed it in a tight fist. He sprinkled the remains of the gadget on the dirt floor and then looked up to Robin with an evil look in his eye. "What are you going to do about it, Robin?" he asked the boy. "You aren't capable to revenge your stupid little friend. Revenge is not the 'superhero' way."

Robin's glare darkened as he got into a battle stance. "You have no idea what I'm capable of, Slade," he said, his voice dripping with poison.

"There you are wrong," Slade said. "It is you who doesn't know how much you are capable of." Without another word the two went at each other.

-Raven and Jake-

"Please, please wake up Rea!" a voice called desperately to her. With a moan of pain, Raven opened her eyes to be staring into Jake's big blue ones. She looked up at him with confusion. She didn't know where they were or why she was knocked out. Jake smiled down at her with relief. "You hade me worried," he said quietly.

Suddenly all the memories before she passed out hit Raven. She gasped and made Jake jump back in surprise. "Where is Slade?" she asked while stumbling to her shaky feet. Jake had to hold onto her to keep her steady.

"He's not here…thankfully," Jake answered her. "I had been keeping track of where everyone was before I called up James for help. I had been in this room, before switching places with Robin, so I knew that you and Sam had to be heading here. Where's Sam?"

"It's awful, Jake," Raven said with a sad sigh. Tears swelled up in her eyes as the dreadful memory came back to her. "She was killed in a fight with some Slade-bots. I couldn't do anything to help her. I guess they took her away." She sighed before adding bitterly, "I feel so helpless."

Jake stared back at her with great sadness on his face. He finally sighed with a quiet swear whispered under his breath. He kept wondering how James would take the news. His wife was already gone. How would he deal with another death in his family? The teen felt awful.

"You're not helpless, Rae," Jake told her solemnly. "I need you to help me disable all these bombs." He briskly walked over to the computer screen showing the footage of the city. He observed the different screens for a second with interest in his eyes. Raven joined him, trying to be as unemotional as possible. They both looked down at the keyboard. They tried to hide the confusion from each other.

Raven cracked first. "Which of these is for the bombs?" she finally asked. "You would think that Slade would film footage of the places he put the bombs instead of those things the Titans are fighting."

"Because they are the bombs," Jake said slowly. His eyes lit up while saying, "Those invisible things have to be Slade's bombs! We should be able to shut them down from here. Do we just start pressing buttons?" He pushed a random button and looked back up to the screen. It changed into a timer for 15 minutes. The words "Detonation" flashed briefly onto the screens.

"That can't be good," Jake muttered. The two teens cringed when Raven tried another button and the words "Lockdown initiated" came onto the screens. "That has to be worse," Jake said while biting on his lower lip. He reached to press another button but Raven stopped him. "What?" he asked her.

"So far pressing random buttons is just making our situation worse," she told him while letting go of his wrist she had grabbed. "We have less than 15 minutes to override this lockdown and stop the bombs. We need a better plan than just pressing buttons. We already detonated them by mistake."

"Agreed," Jake said with a nod. He sighed while running a gloved hand through is hair. "Why can't there be a big red button like on the movies? It would be a lot simpler than this stupid computer. To override it we would have to type in a code. After that we would have to somehow know the right button to shut the bombs down. Know any codes?"

"No," Raven said with a frustrated sigh. "It could take us hours to get a right code. Should we just tell the Titans to leave?"

"And let Slade get away with what he planned for this city?" Jake asked her. "No! I didn't kill that psycho path two times in a row to be defeated by a computer. There is a way to shut this thing down. What if we destroy the whole thing?"

"That wouldn't work. This thing could still be linked to the things above ground and only quicken their explosion," Raven said matter-of-factly. "We would have to destroy the main power source as well." Her eyes went wide with realization. Jake nodded as he thought about it.

"It could be like those simple computers everyone has at home," Jake said. "If something you don't like goes wrong on it and you don't know what to do…the best thing to do is to shut down the whole computer down." He smiled at Raven while saying, "It's worth a try. We have less than 12 minutes."

The two went to work looking for a power source. They kept looking back to the main computer and watched nervously as the timer kept getting shorter. Soon it was five minutes left. Suddenly Jake heard a huge bang as a metal tile on the ceiling above him was ripped off and flung to the ground. He looked to Raven and saw her using her powers to tear down the whole metal ceiling. It didn't take long for Jake to find the main source of wires.

"Levitate up there and cut all those wires bunched together with your powers," Jake told her. "I've found a disconnected bunch of wires over here that must be what Slade used to cut off our signals to the communicators down here."

With nods, the two went to their tasks. Jake looked back and saw that they only had a minute now. Sweat started to form on his brow. Raven used all her almost depleted energy to cut through the bunches of wires. Jake connected all the wires in his bunch together then called up James with high hopes. He gave a loud shout of happiness when the call came in and he clearly saw the man's face on the screen.

"What happened?" James asked him with relief all over his face. "I've been worried sick! Did you kill Jessica and shut down the bombs with Sam and Raven?"

"The first one, yes," Jake said in a rush. He avoided saying anything about Sam and continued. "Raven and I are right now working on the bomb part. We figured those invisible things walking around the city are the bombs." He looked to the clock and yelled to Raven, "Hurry, Rae!"

"One last cut, Jake," she told him. "This should turn off the bombs." They nodded at each other and Raven whispered her mantra, focusing her last bit of strength on the wires as a dark disk came out from her hand and sliced through them. The main computer suddenly went black and so did a few other big computers around the room.

The two held their breaths as they waited for James to respond. Suddenly the man's voice from the communicator cut through as he yelled to them, "You did it, guys! The robots just suddenly died! You did it!" The rest was drowned out by the other Titans cheering.

Jake and Raven joined into the cheer. Raven flew back down and Jake swung her around the room with a laugh of joy. Raven couldn't help but laugh with him. They had saved the city once again from falling into the hands of a madman. It was something to rejoice over.

Caught up into the moment, Jake suddenly grabbed Raven's shoulders and pulled her into a passionate kiss. The girl didn't resist him and welcomed the new overwhelming feeling as she let her emotions go wild with a giggle of excitement. Both their bodies started to hover in the air and the objects around them spun slowly around the two in their bliss. Their bodies seemed to become one as they melted into each other.

Once they both pulled away with gasps, they fell to the ground on top of each other along with the things around them. Jake panted from the exhilarating feeling he had just had. Raven was gasping along with him. "Did you feel that?" he asked her with a laugh. The Goth girl blushed profusely and smiled up at him. "And why don't you have a boyfriend again?" he asked.

"Let's hope I have one now," Raven said with a grin. Jake gave a laugh and pulled the girl up off the floor. "What now?" she asked him as she mentally felt his sudden worried vibe.

"Robin and Abe are still out there," Jake told her. "They might need help. It should be easy to find them, now that the communicators are working again." Raven nodded as the seriousness of the situation sunk back into their heads. Jake picked up his communicator and headed for the door with Raven tagging behind him. "Let's hurry," he told her as they both started to jog down the hallway.

-Robin-

"Don't tell me you are wearing out already, Robin," Slade taunted the boy. "We have only been at this for a half an hour. You seem ready to collapse."

Robin gave a loud battle yell as he was able to dodge an attack from Slade and delivered a strong kick to the man's neck. Slade backed away from him to recoup. Robin landed in a crouch with his eyes narrowed into deadly slits. "Not quite," he seethed. He didn't let Slade recover as he came in for another attack.

The boy had turned on destruction mode. It was like he didn't care about anyone's safety as he attacked his only target, Slade. Fierce determination burned in his masked eyes as he delivered kick after kick along with many strong punches. It seemed like all his anger for this man was coming out with each attack. For any innocent bystander, Robin was a dangerous animal.

But on the inside, Robin was begging his body to stop. He didn't like the monster he had become and tried to fan the flames of anger down in his head. This was what Slade wanted him to do. He didn't want to become the man's perfect little apprentice. He kept telling himself to calm down before he seriously hurt someone, mostly himself.

His attacks were great and strong in the beginning. Most Slade couldn't even block for once. But after time went by, Robin's body began to spiral slowly down. He kept his lightning fast pace, but his attacks were stupid and Slade was easily dodging and blocking them now. But his body kept going. It was like he couldn't slow down.

The boy was only snapped back into normalcy when Slade caught him off guard and flung him into a cement wall. The boy's body couldn't keep up the pace and go on anymore. Robin gasped as he fought the blackness threatening to overtake him. He got to his hands and knees while letting his mind finally calm down and let his body recoup for a second. A sick feeling formed a pit in his stomach as he thought about his destructive state before. He never wanted to be pushed over the edge like that again. He was scaring himself.

"Get up, Robin," Slade commanded sternly to the boy as he glared down at him.

"I'm done, Slade," Robin whispered while shaking his head.

Slade effortlessly picked Robin up by his hair. The teen winced but didn't do anything else. "I will tell you when you're done, Robin," Slade whispered cruelly to the boy. "Now…fight!" He threw the teen across the room. Robin glared at the man as he slowly got to his feet again. They then both came at each other with battle yells. At the last second Robin smoothly slide under Slade and backed off with a sly smile coming to his lips.

"You don't control me, Slade," Robin said firmly. "I'll fight when I want to. And I'll keep resisting you till you finally see that I'm never going to be your apprentice. I've already won, really. You can keep trying, but I'll never fully be yours."

"Then I bet you're hoping this lifelong fight doesn't turn out to be like the one we had back before the Past Eraser," Slade said slyly. "You have never once beaten me by yourself, Robin. What happens when you grow out of your stupid little team and there is no one there to help you? You won't be strong enough to resist me for too long."

"People grow up, Slade," Robin said emotionlessly, "You should too."

"It seems my apprentice really has grown," Slade said with a satisfied nod. He walked up to Robin. The teen stood his ground and boldly stared into the man's eye. "But you still have many years ahead of you, boy." He suddenly whipped out his Bo Staff and rammed Robin's beaten body into the wall again, pinning him there. His head pounded profusely and spun as it hit the wall. Robin helplessly struggled against the hold while glaring daggers at the man.

"You still have a lot of anger inside of you. It might not have lasted long, but you were at your best when you fought with your anger controlling you. If you could ever control that anger and tame it, you could be unstoppable, Robin. You don't see the power you have. But I'm going to teach you to control your anger and wisely know when to use it during a fight."

"I've said this a thousand times and I'll say it till you finally get it into your head, Slade," Robin growled down at him. "I'll never be your apprentice."

"Oh, but you already are, my dear boy," Slade said. "Every time we meet or even talk to each other, I'm pushing you in my planned out direction. Yes, you are resisting me and I'm not watching over your every move, but you do listen and learn from me. You'll not admit it now, but I influence you and teach you things. These past weeks I've pushed your physical, mental, and emotional limits. I've done it many times with you. Every time you lick your wounds, move on, and reluctantly come back for more. It's a cycle, Robin, which you won't ever have control over and will never be able to stop."

Robin's head swam. Everything Slade was saying made sense and was true in so many ways. Fear gripped his heart as he realized this whole ordeal had only been a pre ordained test for him. For once Robin just wanted to win and take control. He wished so badly that he could be free of the man before him. But he wasn't going anywhere now. He would have to pick himself up after this and move on just like Slade said. But wasn't that what Slade wanted? Robin didn't get over this, would Slade actually give up on him?

Suddenly a beeping sounded on Slade's watch. He looked back up to Robin and said, "It seems that your friends have saved your pathetic city once again. I knew they would. Until next time, Robin." Slade stepped back and let Robin drop to the floor on his hands and knees. "And tell Jake that I'll be seeing him soon," the man added before throwing down his spoke bombs.

Robin didn't even try to prevent Slade from getting away again. He had been beaten down to his physical limits. He stayed on his hands and knees with his eyes closed, trying to desperately keep himself together. He had never felt so hopeless in his life. Did Slade really have his life planned out against his own will? Could he ever stop this torment on his life? Why should he ever pull himself together? The questions kept getting darker and more depressing till finally one simple saying replayed into his mind.

"Never, ever give up," Robin thought out loud. It was ironic that he thought of those words at a time like this. He thought they would come back to him in a fight. But then again, this really was a fight, an internal and emotional fight against himself. That's what Greg had meant when he said that to Robin back in the airplane in Lima. The boy smiled faintly as he realized this. "I'll never give up," he told himself firmly.

The boy picked himself up off the ground slowly. He stiffly walked over to Abe's unconscious body and lifted him onto his back like a fireman would. He grunted as the weight almost made him fall over. He was too worn out to carry anyone at this moment. But this didn't stop Robin from pushing on.

He had to stop when he saw Sam's dead body. He couldn't just leave it there. James would want to burry her or something. He made his way over to her with emotions running high. He had seen people get killed before, but Sam was someone who had become close. She had risked her life for his. He felt so undeserving yet very thankful. If he ever had a reason to keep going after this it would be for her. She would be greatly missed.

From complete exhaustion, Robin had to stop there. He carefully set Abe down and he sat down between them, panting from the stress on his body. He sniffed while whipping away a tear that rolled down his cheek. They had won on many levels, but he didn't feel the winning joy at the moment.

"Robin!" two voices shouted at him from the doorway suddenly. He looked up with a tiered smile coming to his face. Raven raced into the room and pulled the other teen to his feet. They embraced each other tightly. "I missed you so much," Raven whispered to him. He only hugged her tighter, holding onto her firm and strong emotions for a second. She noticed this and asked, "You okay?"

"I will be," Robin whispered back.

A/N: I'll have a little last chapter to sum some things up. Man, for some reason my last few paragraphs even made me want to cry! I've never done that to myself unless I killed someone off. And it was also my first time having a kissing scene in a fic. I hope that one turned out well. I've only experimented with romance once or twice, so I'm not the greatest in that field yet. But please give a review! Thanks!


	29. Chapter 29 Bright Future

A/N: I'm sad that this fun is ending, but also happy to finish a long fan fiction so I can move on to other fics of mine stuffed into this brain. Here is my last chapter of Switched Lives! Have fun and this is your last chance to review the fic!

Disclaimer: This is the last time I have to say this for this fan fiction! I don't own any Teen Titan characters!

Chapter 29 Bright Future

As if to set the depressing mood that day, the clouds squeezed out every drop of water in them down on the lonely graveyard. The air in the place was humid and gloomy. Elaborate and simple looking tombstones lined the perfectly cut, lush green grass. Flower arrangements overwhelmed a few of the graves with intricate patterns and brilliant colors. Other graves held only one or two flowers to indicate that the person there still wasn't forgotten. The ages ranged from babies barely born into the world, to the elderly who had spent years making a life for themselves.

But the mood was always the same in a graveyard. Life ended here. No one could ever escape death. You could grieve all you wanted, but a loved one would never be brought back. It was the cycle of life. If you live, you ultimately die.

Abe Hess was thinking of just this endless cycle as he stood over his sister's fresh grave. She had been his best friend. The two could be so different but also so much alike. His tears mixed with the rain water on the ground under him as the kid sobbed. This was his time to grieve all he wanted to. He held none of his emotions back as he dropped his umbrella and came to his knees. The mud on the ground soaked into his jeans, but he didn't care. The aching of his heart was too great for him to handle.

Robin watched Abe silently from behind. The rain made his usual spiky hair fall into his eyes transfixed onto the lonely figure by his loved one's grave. Pain was on his face as he watched Abe. Finally Robin couldn't take the sight anymore. He turned to leave, giving up on talking to the boy. There was nothing he could ever say to help the boy struggle through his loss. He bumped into someone with a small gasp. It was James.

"It's okay, kid," James said down to Robin. The teen looked up at James and bit his lower lip, tears threatening to escape his eyes. "It will take us time to pass our grieving stage, but Abe and I will move on. Sure, we will cry some nights at the memories of both the girls in our lives, but we will be fine." He pushed some wet hair out of the teen's face and added with a sad smile, "Just like you, Robin."

"I'm sorry!" Robin blurted out before running away. James grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him back sharply. He crouched down to the teen's eye level and stared at him while holding firmly onto his shoulders. "It's all my fault she is dead!" Robin said. "This whole thing Slade did was for me and…"

"Robin, listen to me," James said to the boy in a stern voice. "This is not your fault! She knew there was a chance she wouldn't live through this and took the chance. This is no one's fault. You need to stop beating yourself up every time someone gets hurt. It will lead you no where. Please don't blame yourself, kid."

"I feel responsible, though," Robin said.

"Don't feel that way," James said while shaking his head. "It will only bring you down. You need to move on. Abe and I will be fine, and so will you."

"Thank you," Robin whispered after a pause. They smiled at each other. "You helped me so many times in the last few weeks. If I can do anything to repay you or Abe, just call me." He grabbed his own communicator from his belt and gave it to James. "I live in the giant Tower shaped like a T," he said with a wry grin. "You can't miss it."

James gave a chuckle while looking at the communicator in his hand. "You were a bit too serious for my liking in the beginning, kid," he said, putting the gadget away in his pocket, "But you grew on me. You turned out alright."

"It's just your weirdness rubbing off on me," Robin said slyly.

"I'm sure," James said.

Robin turned to where Abe was and frowned slightly in the rain. "Are you sure he will be okay?" he asked James. "I just can't stand seeing him this way."

James nodded slowly. "Like I said before, it will take him some time to mourn," He said solemnly, "But he will be fine."

"I think you're right," Robin said. James looked over to the teen and could tell his thoughts were somewhere else. Finally the boy smiled faintly while glancing up at the man. "I need to go, James," he said. "I have a city to take care of and a team to lead." James nodded and they both saluted each other before Robin walked off, disappearing in the mist of the pouring rain.

-Jake-

"Why can't we stay, Jakey?" Valentine whined to her older brother. He loaded the box she handed him into the back of the rental car. He sighed and turned back to his sister. "I don't want to move out of the city!"

"We aren't moving from this city, Val," Jake muttered. "I saved it for goodness sake. I'm not leaving it."

"Then why not become a Teen Titan, stupid?" Val asked boldly.

Jake frowned down at her. She stared back up at him. The battle of the stares was on! They narrowed their eyes as their faces went serious. Jake bent down to her eye level as his frown deepened. It was Jake who cracked first. He growled out of frustration and stood back up. Valentine smiled evilly up at him.

"Cough it up, softy," she commanded.

"Things are too complicated, Val," Jake tried to explain. "I'm too much a thief to go geeky superhero on everyone. I…I'm just not like that. I don't naturally do good to this world. I steal, that makes me a thief, which makes me **not** the good guy."

"But you're the not the bad guy like Slade," Val pointed out.

Jake opened his mouth to say something against her, but he just couldn't come up with anything. "Go get another box," he finally said sharply to her. With a scowl, Valentine stormed back into the run down apartment building. Jake sighed with his appearance deflating. His perpetual headache was returning. Closing his eyes, the teen sat down in the car's driver's seat with the door open.

"Leaving so soon?" a voice called from above. Jake looked up with some shock to see Robin sitting casually on the edge of the roof to his apartment. "Without even a good bye?" he asked with a wry smile. "I somehow predicted this from you."

"What do you want, kid?" Jake spat back. "Arresting me wasn't part of Raven's and mine's deal. Go back to your Tower and leave my life alone. I mean, don't you have a city to clean up? Those robots destroyed a lot of it. Go busy yourself with your job."

Robin jumped off the building and landed in a graceful crouch. He was in civilian clothes, a pair of old jeans, a red polo shirt, and tennis shoes. Not being his in costume for so long had forced him into a liking of normal clothing. But his scars from his battles with Slade still showed. Bruises and scars covered his arms.

Jake was in the same boat. When he came back to school for a day, everyone asked about his small injuries. He had complained about a migraine to the school's nurse and was sent home early. He didn't go back to school after that. He blocked the building and the people in it from his mind a long time ago. He didn't know why he ever went back. He would just find a new one.

Dave, his friend, was a different problem. Once the guy found out Jessica had been murdered by a Red X when reading a newspaper one morning, he had called Jake, cursing Red X for killing his ex-girlfriend. Disgusted with his former friend, Jake had hung up on Dave. He had called later and told him he was moving and switching schools. After that, he had deleted Dave's name from his contact list…which now was completely empty.

Now the two look-a-likes were standing before each other. Robin put his hands in his pockets and stared at Jake with his face emotionless. Jake stood up and gave the other teen a frown of annoyance. Finally his face softened and he asked, "What are you here for, Robin?"

The boy shrugged. "I just wanted to talk," he finally said seriously. "Where are you going? Slade won't be easily fooled for too long. He will come after you sometime."

"I don't want to leave Jump City," Jake said quietly. He smiled slightly as he looked around his block, remembering all the memories he had in his city. "Private schools will keep our tracks hidden for awhile. I'm going to actually get a job." He gave a nervous chuckle and added, "More like a few jobs. Ended up that Slade didn't pay me for the great job I did playing clone boy for him."

Robin smiled as he imagined Jake being him for two weeks. "I forgot to ask you about that," he said jokingly. "How did it go in the Tower? Did you like my life and playing me?"

"I couldn't believe how much Cyborg and Beast Boy fight over tofu and meat!" Jake said. Robin's smile widened. "And Starfire is too happy all the time. She also hugs people too frequently. I still have the bruises to prove it!" By this time Robin was cracking up. Jake finally got serious and said, "But your team is great. You are very lucky to have them."

"I'm very grateful for them. But everyone in this world has the same amount of luck," Robin said. "It just shows up in different ways with each person. You are a lucky person, Jake, you just don't see the riches in your life yet."

Jake smiled slyly while saying, "I'm not here for deep touchy speech crap from you, kid. Saying your team was great was the best I could muster. Now, if you have nothing else to say then leave."

Robin shook his head with a sad chuckle. "You keep pushing people out of your life," he said. "Stop pushing and let others in. The Titans talked long and hard about this, but we concluded that we would want you to be an honorary Titan." He took out a communicator from his back pocket. "This is yours, Jake. All you have to do is take it."

-1 year later-

Preston High was your normal expensive private school. It was big, rich, and snotty. If you didn't have the money for them, your kid would never set foot in the place. It was like a castle in a story book, placed on a hill on the outskirts of Jump City. It was clean every second of the day. If a kid dropped trash onto the floor, they would be serving detention at the end of the day.

A kid's uniform had to be washed by someone at least three times a week. A kid had to be washed seven days a week. The school prided itself in being the cleanest school and building in the city. The kids weren't the happiest when they found this out when their parents signed them up. After a while detention wasn't so bad to some.

Jack William nodded his head to the heavy metal music coming from an iPod's head phones on a guy sleeping next to him. He glanced up quickly to the teacher over looking the detention class that afternoon. The woman was deeply involved into her cheap romance novel, softly crying and dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Jack chuckled at the stupidity of it. She wouldn't be catching him using his cell phone, though, and that was the only productive part of her crying.

The teen put his feet up on his desk with a bored sigh. He read the text message from his girlfriend and started to send one back. He wished he could talk to her now, but he wasn't allowed to talk during detention. His fingers flew over the buttons to his phone. He sent his invitation to dinner to her and smiled. His younger sister was sleeping over at a friend's house that night. They would have the house to themselves. Now all he had to do was learn how to cook.

His girlfriend's message was quickly sent back to him. It said…

_Luv to. Alarm went off._

_Want to help? Could use u._

_Location in com._

_Love Rea._

Jack drummed his fingers on his desk, thinking over what to do. It didn't take long for him to decide to help them. It would mean sneaking out of detention and pulling on his uniform, but that would be the fun part. He wanted to surprise Raven by just showing up. That would make her happy. He smiled at the thought of him making her smile.

The teen got up from his desk while pocketing his cell phone. He grabbed his backpack that had some useless homework and his uniform in it. This whole time he kept his eyes on the teacher. Suddenly somebody grabbed his arm as the boy slowly tip toed backwards toward the open window at the back of the class room.

He looked down to his friend and smiled slyly. "Bored," he mouthed to him. Some other kids sharing the same fate were looking his way with envy or interest on their faces. His friend shook his head with amusement and then gave Jack the thumbs up sign. Jack nodded and continued to make his way to the back of the room, a smile creeping to his face.

Fresh afternoon air brushed lightly over the teen as he came to the window. He could see all of Jump City from this view point. His smiled widened as he thought about his perfect home he was so thankful to have now. He had good school friends, a breathtaking girl at his side, a healthy and happy little sister, and all the bad guys to kick the crap out of.

This was the life Jake White had been striving for. It wasn't perfect, but it was just what Jake wanted. He closed his incredible blue eyes as another breeze swept peacefully over him. He hadn't been this happy in months. Of course he worried about Slade at times, but his confidence overpowered the worry. He had his life back, and he didn't want to waste it thinking about Slade.

Jake/Jack slipped silently out the window and expertly climbed down the brick building from the second floor. He pushed off the wall when near the ground. He did a flip in the air and landed like an acrobat on the grass. After changing behind a dumpster quickly, the boy was ready for action, playing his favorite identity.

He was now Red X.

A/N: It's done! Oh, I'm so happy with my ending! It was sad yet also happy. I left the ending open because I like doing that to everything. Thanks for reading and especially to those who reviewed! It wouldn't have gone anywhere without those reviews and hits. If you liked this fic, please check out my brand new one called Project: Mockingbird. Well, there you have it. No sequel planned, so this is my goodbye. See you people around! Please review!


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